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Iittp://www.arcliive.org/details/sheepfarminginam03wing 




JOSEPH E. WING. 



Sheep Farming 
In America. 



® 



By JOSEPH E. WING, 

Staff Correspondent of The Breeder's Gazette. 



® 



NEW AND ENLARGED (56) EDITION. 



® 



CHICAGO: 

The Breeders Gazette. 

1912. 






Copyright, 1912, 

BY SANDERS PUBLISHING CO. 

All rights reserved. 



€cU3oOo82 



CONTENTS. 

Illustrations 11-12 

inteoduction 13-19 

Introduction to Second Edition 20 

Introduction to Third Edition 20-26 

CHAPTER I. 

Fine- Wool Breeds 27-42 

Merinos 28 

American Merinos 31 

Delaine Merinos and Black Tops 33 

Rambouillets 37 

CHAPTER II. 

Mutton Breeds .- 43-56 

S"^ • The Downs — 

Southdowns 44 

Shropshires 48 

Hampshires 51 

Oxfords 53 

Suffolks 55 

The Long-Wools — 

Leicesters 56 

Cotswolds 57 

Lincolns 58 

Dorset Horns 60 

The Mountain Breeds — 

Cheviots 64 

Black-faces 66 

Tunis and Persian Sheep 69 

CHAPTER III. 

Ceoss-Breeding 76-87 

Dishley Merinos 79 

Cross-Breeding for the Lamb Market .80-83 

Cross-Breeding in Eastern Pastures 83 

(5) 



b SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

CHAPTER IV. 

Selection and management 88-121 

' Restocking a Farm with Sheep 88 

--^election of the Ram 89 

Keeping a Type 90 

Fixing Type 94 

Renewed Vitality from Fresh Blood 98 

Vitality the Thing to Strive for 99 

Selection of the Ewes 99 

Getting Home with the Flock 101 

Importance of Dipping 102 

The Scab Germ 103 

The Dipping Vat 105 

Regular Dipping of the Farm Flock .109 

Summary of Dipping 110 

Fall Treatment of the Ewe Flock 112 

Mating 113 

Putting in the Ram 114 

Management of the Ram 115 

Care of the Pregnant Ewe 117 

CHAPTER V. 

Care of the FJWE and Young Lami; 122-1G2 

The Ewe Barn 122 

Care at Lambing Time 125 

Feeding of the Ewe After Lambing 131 

Troubles of Young Lambhood 137 

Sore Mouths and Teats 138 

Feeding the Lambs 139 

Feeding for the Market 142 

Dressing Lambs for Fancy Winter Market 148 

Treatment of the Late-born Lambs 151 

Feeding Corn on Grass 154 

Summer Shade 155 

Marketing the Spring Lamb 158 

Docking 159 

Castration of Old Rams 100 

Castration of Lambs 101 

Weaning IGl 

CHAPTER VI. 

Summer Care and Management 103-199 

Th(> lOwe Flock 103 



CONTENTS 7 

A System of Management th;jt Insures a Hoallhy Flor^k. . . 170 

Use of Sown Pastures 1 78 

Oats and Alfalfa Pasture 1 SO 

Clover and Alfalfa Pasture. 18! 

Danger from Clover and Alfalfa Pasture \H2 

The Use of Pvape 1 87 

Cabbages 1 81) 

Pumpkins ., 180 

Care of the Feet 101 

Foot-Rot and Foot-Scald 102 

Advent of Late Lambs 101 

The Lambing Tent 100 

Fall Lambs ,108 

CHAPTER V\l. 

Washing, Siiearixg and Marking 200-214 

Washing and Shearing 201. 

Shearing 202 

Shearing Machine-s 205 

Marking L'OO 

Tattoo Mark Ij 1 

Marking Pure-bred I.atrihs 212 

CHAPTER VllL. 

Flock Husbandry jn the Wksteus States 2ir;-2r;0 

New Mexico 215 

Character of Mexican Sheep. 210 

"The Good Old Times" in New Mexico 218 

Modern Management 218 

Diseases of the Range 221 

Mexican Lambs as Feeders , 222 

The Wandering Herds 222 

Waiting for Grass to Come 22 1 

The Blood of the Herds 220 

The Division of the Ranges 220 

Montana, Wyoming and the Dakotas 227 

Parasitic Infection of the Ranges 228 

Future of the Northern Plains Region 228 

Management of the Range Rams 2.'i0 

Where the Rams Come From 2.*; 1 

The Breeding Season 2^12 

Vigor of Kwes and Lambs 2.'^{2 

The Busy Shepherd at Larnbin^^ Tirn^- 2.Ti 



8 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

The Coyote 233 

"Trimming" the Lambs 234 

Shearing- on the Range 236 

Dipping 237 

The Maligned "Sheep Herder" 238 

Ups and Downs of the Business 241 

The Hopeful Outlook .242 

A Work to be Done 242 

Sheep Advance; Cattle Retreat 244 

Winter Feeding of Sheep and Lambs 244 

Necessity for Dipping 246 

Selection of Feeders 248 

Feeding of Lambs 260 

CHAPTER IX. 

Western Lamb Feeding 261-310 

Pea Feeding in Colorado 261 

Canadian Peas for Lamb Feeding 262 

Peas in the San Luis Valley 263 

Amount of Lamb Mutton from an Acre of Peas 266 

Alfalfa-fed Colorado Lambs 268 

Feeding Mill Screenings 275 

Sheep Feeding in the Cornbelt 276 

Use of Self-Feeders 295 

Feeding Beet Pulp 295 

Causes of Death in the Feedlot 296 

Peas for Lambs 299 

Lamb Feeding in Michigan 300 

The Business of Lamb Feeding 302 

Feeding of Older Sheep 302 

Feeding Mature Wethers 304 

CHAPTER X. 

Diseases of Sheep 311-346 

Ailments in General 311 

Importance of Post-Mortem Dissection 317 

Other Diseases of Sheep 318 

Garget, or Mammitis 319 

Grubs in the Head 323 

Liver Fluke — "The Rot" 324 

Nodular Disease 324 

Tapeworms 325 

Husk, Hoose, or Parasitic Bronchitis . .327 



CONTENTS 9 

Stomach Worm 327 

Symptoms and Diagnosis 330 

Life History of the Stomach Worm 320 

Methods of Preventing Infection 333 

Treatment for Stomach Worms 338 

Coal-Tar Creosote 339 

Bluestone 340 

Gasoline 341 

Other Remedies 341 

Start with a Healthy Flock 342 

CHAPTER XL 

Angora and Milking Goats 347-364 

The Ang-ora Goat 347 

The Milking Goat , 360 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Joseph E. Wing Frontispiece 

Two-year-old Merino Ram , 29 

Delaine Merino Ram Lambs 35 

Yearling Rambouillet Ewes in France 39 

Photographic Studies in Down Types of Sheep 45 

Farm Training for the Show Ring 49 

Suffolk Ram 55 

Lincolns in the Show Ring 59 

Lincoln Rams 61 

Lincoln Ewes 61 

Some Ohio Dorsets 63 

Cheviot Ewes 65 

Group of Tunis Sheep on an Ohio Farm 71 

A Trio of Prize- Winning Lincolns 73 

Dorset Ewes 81 

Rambouillet Ram 91 

The Champion Ram that was Not Too Good 93 

Shropshire Ewes on a Canadian Farm 95 

Black-faced Rams 97 

Dipping Sheep at the University of Wisconsin 103 

Dipping Plant 107 

Southdown Ewes . 127 

Leicester Ewes in Nebraska 133 

"Mary Had Five Little Lambs" 141 

An English "Creep" 143 

Merino Wethers on the Way to Market 145 

Ready for Market 149 

California-bred Rambouillet Rams 153 

A Carload of Yearling Wethers 157 

In an Old-Country Pasture 165 

Cotswold Ewes 167 

Studies in Sheep Character 173 

On a Mountain Range in Wyoming 179 

Yearling Oxford Ram 183 

Leicester Ram 185 

Imported Hampshire Ram Lambs 195 

Hand Shearing Machine 205 

(11) 



12 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

Shearing" Black-faced Sheep in Scotland 207 

Yearling Oxford Ram 217 

Dishley Merinos in France . 219 

Black-faced Sheep in the Hills 225 

A Kansas Feeding Yard, Capacity, 18,000 Sheep 229 

A Sheep "Wagon on the Range 235 

Lincoln Shearlings 239 

An Illinois Feeding and Shipping Yard 243 

Delaine Merino Lambs in California 245 

Feeding Corral, with Straight Fence 249 

A Show of Cotswolds 257 

A Shropshire Flock in Colorado 265 

Racks for Feeding Grain « 270 

Box Rack for Feeding Alfalfa 271 

Side View of Model Sheep Barn, Showing Doors 278 

Cross-section of Model Sheep Barn Showing Frame 279 

Two Views of Feed-Rack .... .281 

A Texas Feeding Yard 285 

Sheep Wagons 291 

Feeding Corral, with Zigzag Fence 297 

A Pair of Hampshire Lambs 303 

At a Royal English Show 305 

An Angora Goat Show . . _ 349 



i 



INTRODUCTION. 

The traveler in England, Scotland and parts of 
France and Germany is impressed by the importance 
of the sheep industry to these lands. Sheep farms 
are often found close together and of large size with 
great numbers of sheep thereon. The writer has 
stood on one hill in Dorsetshire and counted eight 
shepherds, each with his flock of about 400 ewes and 
their lambs, in sight at one time. Nearby, in an 
adjoining county, flocks of Hampshires exist as large 
as 2,500 on farms of not above 1,400 acres of not 
extra soil. These flocks are very profitable and they 
make rich soils that without the sheep would be 
hardly worth cultivating. They exist in wonderful 
health and vigor on lands that have been sheeped 
since civilization peopled the land. In Scotland and 
the Cheviot hills flocks exist over the entire land, 
and without sheep the land would almost lapse into 
wilderness. In France on lands worth $250 per acre 
great flocks of mutton sheep are kept. The agricul- 
ture of these countries leans strongly on the sheep. 
Long experience in maintaining fertility, in creating 
it, has taught the farmers that without the flocks 
they cannot continue profitable agriculture. Sheep 
fit in well to an intensive system of agriculture. 
They are docile, tractable, easily kept within bounds, 
not fastidious in their appetites but willing to de- 

(13) 



14 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

vour most weeds along with the good forage, and 
they leave behind them a wake of fruitful soil. 

In America sheep farming is little understood. 
Sheep are kept in a more or less desultory manner, 
having the run of some hill pasture or woodland, 
fed at intervals in winter, sold off when prices be- 
come low, bought up again with the return of higher 
prices, given small care or encouragement, often 
afflicted with parasites, internal and external, a side 
issue with the farmer, profitable in spite of his 
neglect, yet not often assuming the dignity of a 
business of themselves. There are several reasons 
for this state. It is in part a heritage of the days 
when sheep were little valued for their flesh and 
were kept mainly for their fleeces. It is in part a 
result of our once cheap lands and insufficient labor 
with which to till them. And in large part it is be- 
cause of ignorance of profitable methods. When 
sheep thrive their owners gladly reap the profits; 
when they become diseased and unprofitable it is 
usually charged to ' ' bad luck. ' ' There need be small 
element of luck or chance in sheep management. 
There is always a reason for thrift and for un- 
thrift in the flock. There need rarely be any disease 
in the flock. A healthy sheep is certain to be a profit- 
able one. 

There is at this time good reason for thinking 
seriously of these problems of sheep husbandry be- 
cause of the increase of mutton consumption, and 
the fact that while there is some increase in produc- 
tion it does not at all keep pace with the increased 



INTRODUCTION 15 

demand. April 1, 1909, saw about 42,293,205 sheep 
shorn, according to statistics of the National Asso- 
ciation of Wool Manufacturers. In five years there 
has been an increase of about 4,000,000 sheep. 
Doubtless the hard winter of 1909-10, with the sub- 
sequent poor lambing, cut these figures down materi- 
ally. It is notable, however, that there has been a 
great deal of restocking of eastern farms by sheep 
brought from the ranges. In the main, the results 
secured have been good, yet the high prices for grain 
have caused such a general plowing up of pastures 
that the movement to restock the East with sheep 
has been a very noticeable one, except in particular 
regions like parts of Kentucky, Tennessee and the 
Virginias, where early lambs are grown in consider- 
able numbers. 

The National Association of Wool Manufacturers 
supplies the following figures : Montana, 5,000,000 ; 
Wyoming, 4,800,000 ; New Mexico, 3,200,000 ; Idaho, 
2,800,000; Ohio, 2,500,000; Utah, 2,200,000; Oregon, 
1,850,000; California, 1,900,000; Texas, 1,325,000; 
Colorado, 1,450,000; Michigan, 1,500,000; Pennsyl- 
|vania, 1,000,000; New York, 825,000; Washington, 
450,000 ; Nevada, 875,000 ; Arizona, 825,000 ; Indiana, 
850,000 ; North Dakota, 650,000 ; Iowa, 700,000 ; Mis- 
souri, 873,000 ; Wisconsin, 850,000 ; Illinois, 700,000 ; 
Kentucky, 750,000. All other states each below 600,- 
000. It will be seen that in comparison with the 
ranges the states make rather a small showing in 
the sheep industry, Ohio and Michigan excepted. The 
fact of free grass upon the western ranges and the 



16 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

general healtlifnlness of flocks in that arid region 
have had a deterring influence upon the sheep in- 
dustry in the old farming states. Now, however, 
that the ranges seem unable to supply the mutton 
that is demanded by our consumers it is time to for- 
get their menace and to take up again our old trade 
of shepherding on our eastern farms. 

There are several excellent reasons why this is a 
rational and promising industry in which to embark. 
The ranges are now fully stocked with cattle and 
sheep. To increase the numbers of sheep means to 
drive out more cattle and this the cattle men are re- 
sisting by armed force. On many of the drier ranges 
the sheep have overpastured the grass till much of it 
has been destroyed root and branch, and thus its car- 
rying power is much decreased. Settlers are taking 
the land in every irrigable valley and fencing it, and 
there is thus in every way a steady diminution in 
the numbers of sheep on the ranges. Nor can it be 
seen how this may be checked and their numbers 
made to increase, seeing that alfalfa forms almost 
the sole forage grown in that arid region — and this 
is not a crop suited to careless grazing of large 
bands of sheep by hireling herders. 

Consider again that the prejudice that at one time 
existed against mutton eating has almost died away. 
The cities are eating all the mutton that they can 
get and are paying for it often more than they are 
paying for beef or pork. There are doubtless several 
excellent reasons for this. Fashion is one. The 
fact that crowds of our people visit England every 



INTRODUCTION 17 

year leads tliem to form the ''lamb chop" habit. 
Mutton is better fattened and prepared than for- 
merly. There is offered a very much greater supply 
of lamb mutton than of mutton from old sheep, and 
that helps. Then the old-time type of small, wrinkly, 
thin-fleshed sheep has about disappeared and that 
helps. There is a demand for lambs from babyhood 
uj) to a year of age, well fattened; there is demand 
for mature mutton. "Whether the packers have or 
have not controlled the price of beef they have not 
been able or desirous of keeping down the price of 
mutton. For ten years feeders of lambs have pros- 
pered exceedingly, with occasional discouragements, 
and there is no prospect of the production of good, 
well-finished mutton being overdone for some years 
to come. It cannot be overdone until one or two 
things happen, either the American people must 
come into calamitous days or a great number of 
farmers must turn shepherds and learn the business 
from the ground up. Neither of these things will 
happen soon. Sheep husbandry is not difficult but it 
requires close attention to details and that we will 
not many of us give. The few who will patiently 
learn the art will therefore prosper the more exceed- 
ingly. 

It is a cheerful thought to look forward to the day 
when well-kejot, happy flocks will abound in our land. 
Then weeds will disappear to be replaced by luxu- 
riant grass and forage crops. Then trim fields, each 
with its appropriate green growth, will be dotted 
with snowy-fleeced ewes and plump, rollicking lambs, 



18 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

each one a picture of liealtli and thrift; shepherds' 
neat cottages will shelter an intelligent and thrifty 
class of farm laborers, great piles of manure will be 
accumulated in winter time to replenish the old 
fields, the farm boys will find enough to do and suffi- 
cient encouragement for doing it and will remain on 
the farms, and then agriculture will be truly an up- 
building, a creation of fertility and farms where now 
there is little of profit left to country dwellers. 

Let no one imagine, however, that these blessings 
follow the mere fact of buying a flock and placing it 
upon the farm. ' ' Sheep are ever an unhappy flock, ' ' 
remarked an old Roman agriculturist, and in no oth- 
er stock can the ignorant or heedless farmer have so 
great a variety of misfortunes as with the sheep. 
Few of these troubles are unavoidable. It is to point 
the way to success and to indicate the rough places 
that this little book is written. 

It is to be regretted that a great change has come 
over country life. The old intim^acy between the 
farmer and his men, the farmer and his fields, the 
farmer and his animals, has to an extent gone, per- 
haps forever. Nevertheless, the farmer who under- 
takes to keep sheep with profit must go back to the 
ways of his fathers and his boyhood, he must culti- 
vate an acquaintance with the individuals in his 
flock, must learn to know instantly by sight whether 
or no they are in health, must have their confidence 
so that he can without much trouble catch them 
afield, by aid of the shepherd's crook or a bit of salt 
or a handful of shelled corn. Fortunately this inti- 



INTRODUCTION 19 

macy is a delight as well as a source of profit. ' ' The 
eye of the Master fattens the flock." Hired shep- 
herds may be faithful, but they need the suggestions 
and the inspiration that come from wise co-opera- 
tion of the employer. Best of all, shepherds are the 
men who own the sheep. It is a delightful occupa- 
tion and one that interests the young. There is room 
for labor, for thought, for growth in this work. 
Some of the happiest hours and most helpful the 
author has ever known have been spent in working 
among his ewes and lambs, or seated beneath a tree 
watching them graze in the cool of the evening or 
seeing the lambs scamper up and down the hillsides. 
Strong men have come from tending sheep. Young 
David watched his father ^s flocks and in his zeal 
slew the lion and the bear that would have destroyed 
them. Gazing from his hill ranges afar out over the 
land he learned to love it well, so that the day came 
when he emerged from the solitude of the sheep 
pastures to be the one who should redeem Israel from 
bondage. Let us hope that in our own times young 
men may be found who while working with the gentle 
ewes and innocent lambs may from these scenes of 
peace absorb sufficient love of home, country and 
native land that they may come forth strong to help 
in the redemption and upbuilding of their country. 

INTEODUCTION TO SECOND EDITION. 

Since this book was first put out a good deal has 
been learned concerning practical sheep manage- 
ment. The problem of the internal parasite, that 



20 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

terror that devastated eastern flocks, has been nearly 
solved, and the author has liad the pleasure of pre- 
senting in this second edition a plan of flock man- 
agement that will surely avoid the disasters that 
follow in the trail of the insidious foe and insure 
keeping a flock in beautiful health and vigor. 

Of a life somewhat filled with work and thought, 
the writer feels this is his chief fruit and it cheers 
him to think that perliaps he may be able to cause 
fine, healthy, happy flocks to grow where none grow 
now, or, worse, where sickly and unhappy sheep are. 

Of a multitude of friends the writer feels that the 
ones nearest his heart are the grave and careful 
shepherds who, loving their flocks better than their 
ease, make little lambs to grow and play, unafraid, 
who lead their sheep safely and feed them wisely, 
and who themselves are led by their life of solicitous 
care nearer the good Shepherd of us all, 

INTEODUCTION TO THIED EDITION. 

I sit to write this on tlie good ship Verdi, bound for 
South America, a land of many sheep. Several years 
have elapsed since the second edition was put before 
the reader, and in that time I have learned some 
things new and have had old beliefs more strong- 
ly confirmed. The past winter (1911) has been spent 
in journeying from farm to farm among the sheep 
breeders of Michigan, Ohio and the Virginias. I 
have been impressed very strongly with the fact that 
the art of keeping sheep is a simple art that almost 
anyone can master; that the profit of the flock de- 



INTRODUCTION 21 

pends more on the slieplierd than on the breed or lo- 
cation; that well-kept flocks of sheep bring to any 
land much fertility, and to the farm homes a good 
share of comforts and prosperity. 

There is money in keeping sheep when one keeps 
tliem right; there are loss and discouragement when 
one keeps them otherwise. The shepherd can and 
will make money witli his flock if he keeps it healthy, 
uses good rams, at the right time of year, feeds well 
and not too well, especially if he feeds the lambs well. 

My work for some months has been to ascertain 
the cost of producing a pound of wool. In prosecut- 
ing this search it was necessary to take into account 
every item of expense, with all details of manage- 
ment, then to take account of sales of wool and mut- 
ton and value of manure left. It proved a most in- 
teresting and indeed fascinating task. Not to go 
here into detail, I will merely say that one man 
would come far short if receiving from his lambs 
and wool what his feed was worth, with a moderate 
pay for his services charged, while his immediate 
neighbor under quite similar conditions would make 
from his flock a substantial profit. The whole dif- 
ference lay in management — in knowing how. 

The mistakes that most often led to loss in sheep 
breeding were, first and most deadly, letting the 
sheep become parasitic by keeping them too much 
on the same pasture or by other mistakes in manage- 
ment; next, in feeding too poorly, so that the ewes 
came to lambing time poorly nourished and without 
milk, which resulted in a poor lambing and a small 



22 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

increase. Then came next the failure to feed the 
lamhs well and get a good thing from the mutton. 
Another blunder occasionally committed was too ex- 
pensive feeding in winter, resulting in running the 
cost too high. Too much feed is as bad as too little ; 
indeed it is worse, as it hurts the flock and hurts the 
pocketbook as well. 

A frequent source of loss was careless feeding of 
forage in winter. Eacks so made that ewes pulled 
the hay through between narrow openings tilled with 
hay will be emptied within a few hours, no matter 
how much is put in them; whereas racks made so 
that ewes can thrust their heads in and eat will 
liardly be emptied before the hay is all eaten. I 
four '' one man who fed 4 pounds of hay daily to 
each of his ewes, say 700 pounds per head during 
winter. This alone would cost about $3.50, and this 
man also fed more than 1 pound of grain per day 
to each ewe, or more than $2 worth of grain. Add to 
this expense his cost of summer keep, and it is clear 
that he is not making much money in the sheep busi- 
ness. Other men near by found their ewes maintain 
well with % pound of grain daily and 2 pounds or 
less of hay. It is clear that the men who fed with 
the less expense made the more profit. 

It is a curious fact that no experiment station has 
thus far determined the correct amount of feed for 
a breeding flock in winter when only economical 
maintenance with the greatest profit is desired. My 
own studies have convinced me that there is here a 
great field for experiment. Breeds differ very wide- 



INTRODUCTION 23 

ly too, and especially does it matter enormously 
whether the sheep are parasitic or not. If free from 
parasites, and in good heart in the fall, the ewe flock 
can keep in good heart all winter on half the feed 
that wonld be required if the sheep were gnawed in- 
ternally by worms. 

The result of my investigations has served won- 
derfully to confirm and strengthen my faith in Me- 
rino blood as having great possibilities of profit for 
eastern farmers. Merinos are hardy, very easily 
kept (the history of the Merino breed since we know 
of it has been a story of hardships and sparse feed- 
ing), and fairly resistant to parasites. This last 
feature is the one that most commends the Merino 
to eastern farmers. There can be no questi'^'i- that 
these sheep will be in health and vigor under condi- 
tions that would play havoc with sheep of any of the 
English breeds. If then the most ''muttony" of the 
Merinos are chosen (Delaines, Blacktops or Eam- 
bouillets), one can get from them lambs that fatten 
right well (not near so easily as Southdowns, Dor- 
sets or Hampshires in health, but better than these 
when parasitic), and the lambs get large enough to 
weigh as much as the market desires at this time. 

When good Merino ewes were crossed with good 
Down or Dorset or long-wool rams, the result was 
usually a fine profit from the year's work. The dan- 
ger of that course of procedure is that one may lose 
character in the ewe flock, since the half-blood ewes 
are by no means so resistant to parasites as the 
pure-bred ones; nor are they as easy keepers, nor 



24 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

usually so good shearers ; so that it is the almost "ani- 
versal testimony of breeders that the greatest profit 
is in cross-breeding, involving, however, keeping the 
ewe flock pure, either by keeping two rams or by 
purchase from time to time of pure Merino ewes. 

I learned the curious fact that the most highly- 
bred of the Merinos, those of the bluest blood and 
heaviest-fleeced, do not usually in the hands of the 
farmer make the most profit. At present, I should 
say that for all the region of the cornbelt and south- 
ward, with most of Michigan, southern Wisconsin 
and Minnesota, the easiest sort of shepherding and 
the greatest chance of average profit are in keeping 
Merino ewes in flocks of 50 to 100 head, choosing the 
most ^^ muttony" of the Merinos, valuing them more 
for their resistance than for their shearing qualities, 
and cross-breeding them with good rams of the dis- 
tinctive mutton breeds, selling all of the cross-bred 
lambs as a general practice and keeping the ewe flock 
pure Merino. 

There is a real and profitable place for the half- 
blood Merino ewe, on the better-managed sheep 
farms. There is not a doubt that she is more pro- 
lific than the pure Merino, a better mother and milk- 
er, shears a fleece that may easily be worth more 
than the pure Merino fleece, and unquestionably her 
lambs will fatten faster than those from pure-bred 
Merino ewes. They will be heavier too. At the same 
time, cross-bred Merino ewes will be a trifle less re- 
sistant of parasites and will consume more feed. 
C Surveying the field, it seems clear that there is 



INTRODUCTION 25 

profit in sheep breeding, intelligently done. I have 
seen with keen delight whole neighborhoods in Michi- 
gan and Ohio where each farm held its flock, where 
great barns were stored with forage, the ewes be- 
neath, and close by stood comfortable farmhouses in 
which I found intelligent and often cultured shep- 
herd folk./The future holds no menace but hope in- 
stead. Should wool tariffs be lowered there might 
possibly be a small decrease in the numbers of sheep 
in the West. This would in ultimate effect cause 
mutton values considerably to enhance, so while pos- 
sibly the American consumer might get his woolen 
clothing cheaper the sheep-farmer would receive as 
much for his output of wool and mutton as ever be- 
fore, and it might well be that he would receive 
more. With all tariff duties removed, we might pos- 
sibly sell wool for 15 cents per pound, as they do 
in Canada, if at the same time mutton prices were 
enhanced, which in the long run they would assured- 
ly be. While the fleece of the ewe might bring us 70 
cents less, the lamb would bring us from 85 cents to 
$1.70 more, and the income from the farm flock be 
increased. The lesson is clear. No matter what ups 
and downs the sheep market may see in the near 
future, the wise sheep-owner is the one who stays 
with his flock and seeks only to make it better and 
healthier than before. His reward is assured. 

One of the interesting results of my investigation 
of the practices of sheep-farmers in Ohio, Michigan 
and the South was that experience seems against the 
keeping of large flocks in those regions except for 



26 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

winter feeding. In tlie beginning of tlie investiga- 
tion I assumed that I would visit usually men with 
100 or more breeding ewes. Later, when in the field, 
I found there few indeed who had so many ewes 
as that ; maybe a whole county would show no more 
than one or two flocks of that size. I learned that 
experience had shown that on the general farm 
where sheep were kept as a part of the general farm 
scheme flocks of 40 to 50 ewes were most profitable, 
the easiest kept free from parasites and returning 
the most lambs and the heaviest fleeces. True, there 
were here and there men with successful flocks of 
100 and more, but they were the exception. They 
were men of unusual carefulness. I feel therefore 
in the light of this study that unless one is prepared 
to give a pasture treatment similar to that outlined 
on page 175, he will be wise if he limits his ewe 
flock to about 50 ewes. "With that system of pasture 
management I should not hesitate to keep 400 ewes 
(the common number given a shepherd in England), 
or if I could use sown crops and hurdles, as in Eng- 
land, I should not hesitate, or if I could lamb the 
ewes very early in winter, preferably in fall, then 
I should not care how many I had, so I had fairly 
roomy range for them in summer. To the novice, 
the beginner, the man who wishes only a little flock 
of sheep as a handy thing to consume some forage, 
keep the farm free from weeds and yield a tidy profit 
at the end of the year, I suggest the flock of 40 ewes 
as being best adapted to his purpose and, decently 
cared for, certain to return him a good profit. 



CHAPTER I. 
THE FINE-WOOL BREEDS. 

It is not tlioTight worth while to present here ex- 
tensive accounts of the various breeds of sheep; 
however, some mention must be made of the char- 
acteristics pertaining to each. Breeds originate from 
environment, from peculiar characters of soil and 
vegetation and climate, and from the mental idio- 
syncrasies of the breeders themselves. Each breed 
has its own particular field where it serves best a 
certain purpose. For all that, breeds are somewhat 
flexible and several have a wide range of adapta- 
bility. Conditions of market and of environment 
make some breeds more profitable than others in 
certain locations. What would pay best on the range 
in some remote state, where wool by its cheap trans- 
portation brings the major share of profit, might not 
pay so well in near proximity to large cities where 
the demand is for quick-maturing mutton. Inverse- 
ly, sheep are not suited to range conditions that are 
not good shearers, good to ^^herd,'' that is, having 
the mental trait that makes them stay close to- 
gether and an ability to withstand occasional times 
of starvation. On the farm the utility to live 
through hard winters on sparse allowance of food 

(27) 



28 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

is not a qualification worth taking into account. 
Farmers are equipped with shelter and food for 
their flocks. 

MERINO SHEEP. 

Probably the oldest races of domesticated sheep 
are the various families of Merinos. Most they have 
felt the molding hand of man, most they seem to 
diverge from any wild type of which we have knowl- 
edge. Very likely Merinos were kept in Palestine 
during bible times, and it may be that King David 
when a lad watched beside a flock of Merinos. Under 
the hand of man they have suffered a degeneration 
in form, not being as hardy, as vigorous or full of 
stamina as any wild race of sheep now in existence. 
Merinos, however, have gained two very important 
and valuable characteristics: ability to subsist on 
little feed and that of a coarse nature and compara- 
tive resistance to internal parasites. This latter 
feature is really one of priceless worth to the farm- 
er of the cornbelt where the stomach worm ravages 
ceaselessly. I had good opportunity in the winter 
of 1910-11 to study this very factor in flocks of sheep 
of many breeds in Ohio and Michigan, West Vir- 
ginia, and Tennessee. I was continually amazed to 
see the fine strung flocks of Delaine, Blacktop and 
Eambouillet Merinos, heads up, eyes bright, skins 
as pink as cherries, yet received very indifferent 
care indeed either in way of pasture, management 
or feeding. Surrounding these flocks I would find 
others of the mutton breeds in far less healthy con- 
dition, showing often very plainly the ravages of 



THE FINE-WOOL BREEDS 



29 



the dreadful stomach worm. Merinos are by no 
means proof against parasites but they are far more 
resistant than are any of the breeds of English ori- 
gin. The place for the Merino, its great use, is not 
so much as a producer of wool alone, as it has been 
used in old days, but as a hardy farm sheep, pro- 
ducing both wool and mutton. The wool of the Me- 



^ 

1 


i 




1 


-o. 




^^ 


• 


m 


"^^W 


f -V^W' 



TWO-YEAR-OLD AMERICAN MERINO RAM. 

rino is the finest and for many purposes easily the 
best in the world. It should command the highest 
price and usually does. Merino breeders in the 
eastern states, however, must compete with pro- 
ducers of wool in remote and semi-savage lands, 
Australia, Argentina, Patagonia, the Falkland 
Islands and parts of our own great West. 



30 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

Breeders of Merino slieep have followed many 
fashions and some that were their undoing. At one 
time the aim was to secure a fleece of extreme fine- 
ness, though by this course was secured a sheep of 
little stamina and of small value for mutton produc- 
tion. Again the aim sought was an excessive amount 
of oil or ' ' yolk ' ' in the fleece, which made it heavier. 
This weakened the sheep, made it sensitive to cold 
weather and, curiously enough, as the weight of 
yolk increased in the wool, manufacturers kept apace 
of the fact in buying, and by paying for it on a 
scoured basis there was nothing at all gained to 
the grower who sold the excessive grease. A manu- 
facturer once related to the writer how in the palmy 
days of heavy fleeces a celebrated ram's fleece was 
brought to him to be scoured ; it weighed 45 pounds, 
was probably of 18 or 24 months' growth and made 
less than 12 pounds of scoured wool! The farmer 
then had wasted food enough to produce more than 
30 pounds of a product of little utility; in fact, be- 
ing only a drain on the strength of the animal that 
produced it. It is of course essential that wool 
should have a sufficient amount of this yolk to pre- 
serve the fiber ; more than this is a damage in every 
way. 

It would seem that now the fads in Merino sheep 
have nearly disappeared and the breeders of the 
present time are breeding useful Merinos, with gen- 
erally more size and better forms and more of mut- 
ton quality than was once seen. 

The importance of the Merino breed will be rec- 



THE FINE-WOOL BREEDS 31 

ognizecl when it is remembered that about 30,000,000 
of the sheep of the United States are of Merino 
foundation. The Merino is the sheep of the range 
country, hardy in large herds, of long life, though 
of slow maturity, able to withstand more of ^ 'grief- ' 
than the mutton breeds, and, most important to the 
ranchmen, holding their fleeces to quite an age, 
whereas under range conditions mutton breeds soon 
become light shearers. However, it is not now be- 
lieved among western ranchmen that the Merino 
should be bred pure for their purpose. They use 
large numbers of mutton rams and aim to keep in 
all their ewes a strain of mutton blood, from % to 
1/4, which they find makes the ewes better mothers, 
being more prolific and having a stronger milk flow. 
Lambs from such ewes, sometimes from pure-bred 
mutton rams, form the major part of the supplies 
received in our great markets from August till June. 
A flock of ewes from Merino mothers and good sires 
of one of the mutton breeds is almost ideal for use 
upon the farm, hardy, healthy, great milkers, good 
shearers. When again topped by blocky, mutton- 
bred sires they produce lambs that are hard to excel. 

AMERICAN MEEINOS. 

There are a number of families of Merinos. The 
American breeders divide them into three general 
classes — the Spanish or American Merino, the 
smallest in size and heaviest in fleece of any; these 
sheep were once excessively wrinkled (wool grows 
upon wrinkles, thus the wool-bearing capacity is in- 



32 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

creased). They usually have a considerable amount 
of yolk in the wool, though by no means the ex- 
cessive amount that was once common. During re- 
cent years the American Merino has undergone 
quite an evolution, obedient to the command of its 
breeders, and has a better developed leg, a stronger 
back, a better sprung rib, more vigor and stamina 
than before and has, I think, lost little in fleece- 
bearing powers. 

The American Merinos are the most highly spe- 
cialized of all sheep, their wool being best and most 
abundant. Their breeders do not claim that they 
are mutton sheep, though they do make good mut- 
ton; but not so profitably as some lighter shearing 
breeds. 

The American Merino reached perhaps its great- 
est development in A^ermont; in fact, it has often 
been called the ^'Vermont Merino.'' The object of 
its breeders was to produce the greatest possible 
amount of fleece to a given weight of carcass. Nat- 
urally excessive wool-bearing somewhat weakened 
the constitutions of the sheep and in a sense they 
deteriorated, so far as prolificacy, motherliness and 
fattening powers went. Nevertheless, sheep of this 
type when crossed on thin-wooled sheep of unim- 
proved races did wonders in improvement. Many 
American Merinos were exported to Australia and 
South Africa, and in Australia many sheep are of 
this very heavy-wooled type. 

American Merinos are not bred in the United 
States except by a few breeders; their market is 



THE FINE-WOOL BREEDS 33 

still Australia or for cross-breeding on larger Me- 
rinos where the wool has become light or thin. The 
breed has a marvelous history and the work of the 
American Merino breeders is one of which we may 
well be proud. Unquestionably great improvement 
was worked in the breed after bringing it from 
Spain to America. 

DELAINE MEKINOS AND BLACK TOPS. 

These two families have been bred by selection 
from the original Spanish ; the Black Tops from the 
importation of 1802, the Delaines from the Black 
Top foundation, with some outcrosses of other Me- 
rino blood. The idea in developing these two fami- 
lies has been to secure a larger sheep than the orig- 
inal Merino, a better feeder, a hardier sheep and 
with a ''Delaine" wool. This wool should have 
parallel fibers of sufficient length for combing pur- 
poses. There is unquestionable merit in these sheep 
and in the hands of some breeders they approach 
closely to the mutton type without losing their valu- 
able fleeces. Delaines are hardy, healthy when 
rightly managed, their lambs from mutton sires are 
superior for the market and a well-managed flock 
of either Delaines or Black Tops has never been un- 
profitable. The name ''Black Top" was given by 
the originator of the type because his best sheep 
had a dark crust on the outside of the fleece com- 
posed of oil and dirt, this crust keeping out weather 
and serving to shelter the sheep. 

The Blacktop sheep is essentially an American 



34 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

breed, notliing just like it being found elsewhere. 
That it has not overspread all the region of the corn- 
belt is singular, since it has great merit. I found 
these sheep almost lost and forgotten in Michigan 
and parts of Ohio during my investigations for the 
Tariff Board, and found them in some neighbor- 
hoods in great numbers, constituting indeed nearly 
the whole mass of sheep kept in the country. Al- 
most without exception, I found them healthy and in 
fine, strong condition, whole flocks of them shearing 
10 pounds per head and their lambs weighing with 
light feeding at 8 to 10 months old 85 pounds each, 
and that is as heavy as the market approves. When 
the Blacktop ewes were bred to rams of one of the 
English breeds their lambs were very much heavier 
and finer, weighing often 100 pounds at 8 months 
of age. 

The most striking fact concerning these sheep, 
however, was that they rarely showed signs of para- 
sites, whereas flocks of other breeds were often 
badly infested. Blacktops have been developed by 
men who were not liberal feeders. For hundreds 
of years these sheep lived on coarse and often scanty 
fare. While the well-fed flocks looked best and made 
the most profit, yet I saw many flocks that subsisted 
in winter mainly on straw, a little corn fodder, a 
very little hay and a wee bit of grain before lambing. 
I am certain that none of the English breeds could 
subsist on such fare without coming to sure ruin. 

The reader may well wonder why these sheep have 
not received fame and honor before now. Tardy 



THE FINE-WOOL BREEDS 



35 




36 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

tliougli the day is, I look to see tliem overspread tlie 
farms of the cornbelt and have classes at state fairs 
and at the International. Certain it is that if their 
breeders shake .off their apathy and begin to let the 
world know the value of their breed, as have the 
breeders of Shropshires, Dorsets, Hampshires and 
Eambonillets, the Blacktops and Delaines will yet 
come into their own. 

The reader may here well inquire, Which is the 
best of the Merinos for me to breed, the one with 
most profit? 

The best Merinos are the Eambonillets, especially 
when of the Von Homeyer type. Large, strong 
mothers and good milkers, good shearers and hardy, 
they would seem to surpass all Merinos and rival 
the English breeds. For use on the ranges they 
are clearly the best, as there a large, strong sheep, 
able to travel far, is needed. On the farm it is nip 
and tuck in point of profit between the Rambouillet 
and the Blacktop and Delaine types. The Blacktop 
breeders claim, with considerable evidence, that 
their sheep consume far less feed, shear better and 
their lambs mature earlier than Eambonillets. I 
think the claim that the Eambonillets require more 
feed than other Merinos is well founded; it is in- 
deed the product of high feeding for many years. It 
is assuredly true that the massive Eambouillet has 
not been able to displace the little Blacktop on the 
farms of Michigan. Even when a splendid flock of 
Eambonillets might be surrounded by flocks of 
Blacktops, the two types seemed rarely interbred. 



THE FINE-WOOL BREEDS 37 

For all that, the Rambouillets are a splendid hreed 
and well capable of making great profit. They are 
little less resistant to parasites than the Delaines 
and Blacktops, needing a little more feed and do not 
shear proportionally quite so much wool. 

Delaines differ greatly. There are breeders who 
do not hesitate to slip into them a dash of American 
Merino or of Eambouillet blood. It is to be feared 
that either course would bring confusion in the long- 
run. The American Merino blood would lessen pro- 
lificacy and the feeding powers of the sheep. The 
heaviest-shearing Blacktops and Delaines have not 
the greatest possibilities for profits for the farmer. 
There must be a happy mean between production of 
wool and flesh ; with markets as they now are the fat 
lamb far outbalances the heavy fleece. 

EAMBOUILLETS. 

Nearly two centuries ago the French government 
began importing Merino ewes from Spain and then 
was laid the foundation of the breed that is called 
the '' French Merino," or ''Rambouillet," after the 
village in France where the stud flock has been kept. 
"With different feeds, different ideals and selection, 
the breed has become quite different from the other 
families of Merinos, having much greater size and 
a different type of wool, with coarser fiber, though 
yet a Merino wool. 

The Eambouillet is perhaps the most popular to- 
day of all the Merinos, great numbers being found 
on the western ranges where there are also great 



38 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

breeding establishments. Here thousands of pure- 
bred rams are grown. Fashions change even on the 
ranges and at present there is inquiry for Delaines, 
and many rams of mixed Delaine and Eambouillet 
blood are used, besides some with an infusion of the 
blood of the American Merino. Eambouillets are 
truly wonderful sheep, of great size and unlimited 
capacity to consume food. With a top of mutton 
rams they produce great lambs or make superb 
wethers. 

Eambouillets have been grown profitably for 50 
years in Ohio. There are indeed some farms that 
have been stocked with these sheep continuously for 
that length of time, which is unusual in America. 
In recent years the breed has been considerably im- 
proved by fresh importations and by careful mat- 
ings, so that both form and fleece are better than 
formerly. The eastern Eambouillet growers have 
for some years enjoyed a very profitable trade in 
rams which they have sent to the western ranges. 
However, the large western breeders are absorbing 
much of that trade of late, so that only the choicest 
rams are in demand for western shipments. A good 
flock of Eambouillets will pay for their wool and 
mutton, and Eambouillet ewes make a most admir- 
able basis for a cross-bred flock. 

Eambouillet and Delaine Merino ewes have the 
ability to conceive early and drop their lambs in the 
fall or winter. Many Eambouillet breeders make a 
practice of lambing as many of their ewes as possi- 
ble in the fall and early winter months, thus getting 



THE FINE- WOOL BREEDS 



39 




, . f /. Mi§ 



40 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

the young things forward to a good state of growth 
and development before spring and summer come to 
bring their problems of management. The early 
lamb is often worth double the late one, because of 
the superior healthfulness and vigor of the early 
born that escape the troubles of parasitism, so dis- 
tressing to those of late birth. 

This habit of early weaning also comes in good 
hand when the Merino ewes are used as mothers for 
cross-bred *^ hothouse'' lambs, and many growers 
of these winter months use Merino mothers though 
the half-blood Merino ewe is better. In truth she is 
near to perfection for this purpose. 

It is a curious fact that many old men succeed 
fairly well with Merinos who cannot make mutton 
sheep thrive at all. The Merino will withstand 
more neglect than the English breeds. It will en- 
dure fairly well a winter ration of bright straw 
and a little added grain with the run of a hill pas- 
ture. Formerly thousands were wintered on pas- 
ture with no feeding at all throughout the hill re- 
gions of Ohio and Pennsylvania. It was thought 
that if they had access to hazel brush, where they 
might shelter and browse a little, and the grass 
was not too closely cropped in fall they would do 
well enough. Treated in this manner they must 
lamb late in the spring, and they do survive and 
shear quite good fleeces, whereas any breed of mut- 
ton sheep, so poorly fed, would hardly show any 
profit at all. 

It is often quite difficult for men who have spent 



THE FINE- WOOL BREEDS 41 

years of their lives growing Merinos under the let- 
alone, outdoor system to take another breed and 
make it thrive at all. They cannot bring themselves 
to give the feed, shelter and attention that the Eng- 
lish breeds demand. And with Merinos, kindness 
and care are usually well repaid. There are hill re- 
gions where the flock may be out of doors almost 
the whole year, but the grazing should be supple- 
mented by a regular allowance of grain or early- 
cut hay, and it is well if the flock can be sheltered 
from chilling winter's rains. 

Merinos live to a greater age than the sheep of 
other breeds, and the ewes are useful up to an age 
of 10 years or more. They also retain their wool 
better, so that one can count on getting good fleeces 
up to their eighth, tenth or even twelfth year, while 
with ewes of the mutton breeds the fleece thins and 
lightens rapidly after the fourth year. We must 
have the English breeds; nothing else will give us 
the early-maturing, heavy-weighing, juicy, good-sell- 
ing lambs, yet there is hardly room for doubt that 
where the ewe flock is of either pure Merino (De- 
laine, Blacktop or Eambouillet) blood or has an ad- 
mixture of that blood and the rams are downs. Dor- 
sets or long-wools, according to the conditions of 
the sheep-grower, the greatest profit is secured. 
Further, there is not a question that under Ameri- 
can conditions where flocks of coarse-wool ewes are 
kept, and the wool clip is too light and the thrift of 
the flock somewhat below par, an infusion of Merino 
blood by the use of a good ^'muttony" Merino ram 



42 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

would work wonders, adding to the wool clip on the 
ewe lambs and the general health and hardiness of 
all the progeny. 



CHAPTER II. 
MUTTON BEEEDS. 

All of our breeds excepting the Merinos, Tunis 
and Persians come from England. There the pe- 
culiar character of the country and the mental traits 
of the people have united to create a number of 
breeds, each having its especial excellence for a cer- 
tain purpose and soil. The Englishman's ideal in 
animal form runs, as it does in architecture, to the 
square, the level, the rectangular. His sheep, his 
beef cattle and his swine all partake of the same 
characteristics in form. To successfully judge Me- 
rino sheep one must be a student of the breed; to 
judge the mutton breeds practically well one need 
only to know what is a good animal, after the model 
of the Angus cow or the Berkshire hog. Add the 
wool and certain fancy points, such as the covering 
of wool over the head, the size and set of ear, the 
shape of nose and the coloring and all is told. The 
novice in sheep breeding, if he knows Angus cattle 
or Berkshire or Poland-China swine, need have no 
hesitation in attempting to select a flock of breeding 
ewes if he can see them without their fleeces. In 
fact, the owner will betray his consternation before 
the novice has selected half a dozen and remark, 

(43) 



44 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

''You may not know mncli about slieep, but I can't 
let you select from my flock. ' ' 

The English breeds are naturally divided into 
classes of Downs, Long-Wools and Mountain breeds. 

THE DOWNS. 

In the south of England is a chain of chalky hills, 
covered with fine, short grass. Since history began 
there has been on these hills a race of short-wooled 
sheep ; in their early history, with horns. From this 
old type has come the Southdown, the Hampshire 
Down, the Sussex, Oxford, Shropshire Downs and 
the Dorset horned. 

SOUTHDOWNS. 

This sheep is a striking illustration of what the 
genius of man can do. Before the day of George 
the Third the unimproved Downs of Sussex were 
''of small size and bad shape, long in neck, low at 
both ends, light in shoulder, narrow at the fore end, 
and shaped like a soda water bottle, small in front 
and heavier in the middle ; large of bone, but boast- 
ing a big leg of mutton. The fleece was not so close 
and firm as now." 

Once the Southdown was horned, but now there is 
seldom a scur to remind you of the past. Today the 
breed is one of the most perfectly formed breeds in 
existence. The size is but medium to small, but so 
compact and thick-fleshed are these sheep and so 
close to the ground that their weights astonish those 
who are unacquainted with the breed. The South- 



MUTTON BREEDS 



45 




46 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

down lias a straight back, a thick, muscular neck, 
bespeaking* vitality, a well- sprung rib, giving a ro- 
tundity of form and a well-filled leg of mutton. The 
character of the mutton is of the best, being fine- 
grained, well marbled with fat and lean and tender, 
sweet and juicy. The wool is short, thick, elastic, 
of excellent quality, though not so abundant as in 
some breeds. Southdowns are very vigorous, hardy, 
ambitious, good foragers, good feeders, always fat 
if given opportunity, more easily kept in health than 
some breeds and the rams are excellent for cross 
breeding, especially where early lambs are desired. 

There are not so many breeders of Southdowns 
in America as the merit of the breed would deserve. 
It is one of the easiest of all breeds to maintain in 
high-class condition. There is little tendency to- 
ward deterioration, though there is great difficulty 
in bringing about change or improvement in type. 
This is no doubt owing in part to the fact that the 
breed is absolutely pure, no admixture or infusion 
of other blood having ever taken place. Therefore, 
there is less variation of type and it is easier to 
have a flock of Southdowns of uniform appearance 
and character than of most breeds. 

In Sussex the author has studied Southdown man- 
agement on their native sod and observed these 
features of their practice : Dry ewes in summer 
time were often grazed on the hill pastures, but 
under the care and observation of shepherds at least 
part of every day. Ewes suckling lambs were in 
hurdles eating sowed crops of clovers, vetches and 



MUTTON BREEDS 47 

grass, with a little bit of grain, while the lambs ''ran 
forward" in other Imrdle-enclosecl bits of grazing. 
As protection against sun the lambs had small 
squares of canvas stretched over the corners of 
their pen. The lambs got a full allowance of "corn 
and cake"; that is, grain with broken linseed oil 
cake which is much fed in that country and seldom 
ground into meal. The lambs were as fat and round 
as little pigs and were sold as they ripened, week 
by week, on the London market. Of this system of 
hurdle grazing we will speak later at more length. 

There are few breeds with more adaptability 
than the Southdown. It is especially useful on high- 
priced land and near markets that demand fancy 
lamb mutton. Though a Southdown flock will not 
shear so much as some others of the Down family 
it is questionable whether there is a more profitable 
breed for the production of fat lambs to be marketed 
either from their mothers' side in late spring or 
early summer or to be fed later and marketed at the 
age of eight to ten months. Their smaller size is in 
their favor, seeing that small and very perfect lambs 
well finished, command a premium always. South- 
down ewes are prolific and excellent mothers, and 
the lambs are strong at birth. 

In America the breeding of Southdown sheep is 
largely confined to Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio and 
Illinois. They are especially liked in the southern 
states, where ihej make the bulk of the early lamb 
mutton coming from that source. They have not 
been taken much to the ranges, yet in 1906 a carlot 



48 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

of cross-bred Southdown lambs from the range 
country was shown at the International Live Stock 
Exposition so wonderfully good that it is doubtful 
whether a better was seen. They weighed 79 pounds 
and won the championship in competition with cross- 
bred lambs from Shropshire, Hampshire and other 
mutton-bred sires. To my eye these lambs were 
easily the best shown that year and demonstrated 
that if rangemen would test Southdown rams, send- 
ing all the lambs to market, they would find no cause 
of complaint in the results. 

SHROPSHIRES. 

Farther to the north in England originated the 
Shropshire sheep. Not unlike many pastures of our 
country are those about Shrewsbury, affording 
strong grass, based upon limestone and clay loams. 
The Shropshire had its origin in a mingling of the 
bloods of native black or brown-faced and horned 
sheep called from its habitat the ''Morfe Common 
sheep.'' They were small and bore light fleeces of 
not more than 2 pounds. Infusion of Leicester, 
Cotswold and Southdown blood worked a great 
change, practically obliterating the blood of the 
earlier parents and bringing at first great diversity 
of type. Careful selection toward a pretty well de- 
fined ideal had by 1853 resulted in fixing a type and 
it was then advised that the Eoyal Agricultural So- 
ciety recognize them as a distinct breed. Since that 
time they have gone steadily forward in improve- 
ment and this is especially notable in recent years, 



MUTTON BREEDS 49 

when the breed seems really to have reached its ulti- 
mate perfection. It would certainly be difficult to 
suggest any desirable modification of the well-bred 
Shropshire's form, fleece or character. The breed 
is perhaps the most popular in the world today and 
has the largest number of registering breeders. 

The Shropshire is a medium-sized sheep, rams 
weighing from 175 to 225 pounds, and ewes 125 to 




FARM TRAINING FOR THE SHOW-RING. 

170 pounds. They shear well, considerably better 
than the Southdown, and the wool is of excellent 
quality. The lambs fatten well and should go to 
market from their mothers' sides, else they may 
reach too great weights for the top of the market. 

The Shropshire ideal in form is close to that of 
the Southdown, with a little greater size and a dark- 
er head and legs, though not so dark as the Hamp- 
shire or Oxford Downs. The fleece is longer than 



50 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

in the Southdown and is not usually so close-set or 
dense. Certainly there is no more beautiful sight 
than a well-bred and well-kept flock of Shropshires, 
the tine matronly ewes with their white fleeces set 
off by the brown of heads, ears and legs. Their 
mutton is perhaps not quite so good as the South- 
down, but there is not much difference in this re- 
spect, and they are equally prolific, though the 
lambs may not have quite the same vigor at birth 
nor do they usually fatten at quite so early an age. 

The one difficulty with the Shropshire sheep in 
America is the careless and ignorant shepherd who 
permits his flock to become infested with parasites 
or allows his ewes to become so fat that they do not 
breed well, and such a man might not succeed with 
any breed. 

The greatest field for the Shropshire sheep in the 
United States is to furnish sires for cross-breeding 
on grade or pure-bred Merinos. Somewhat safer 
than the Hampshire in use on Merino ewes, getting 
lambs somewhat heavier than the Southdown, the 
Shropshire is destined to very extensive use. Half- 
blood Shropshire lambs do not at birth have too 
large heads, they are. very growthy and, well fed, 
make beautiful specimens and command good prices. 
Where the half-blood Shropshire ewes from Merino 
dams have been tried, results have not always been 
satisfactory, the majority of breeders favoring send- 
ing all the half-blood lambs to market and keeping 
the character of the ewe flock strongly Merino, this 
from a desire for a good yield of wool and because 



MUTTON BREEDS 51 

of their greater liardiness and ability to resist para- 
sites. The modern Shropshire is so wonderfully 
wooled over the head and legs it is suspected that 
there is a slight infusion of Merino blood in the 
breed as it is today. The diminishing stature would 
possibly point in that direction. 

HAMPSHIRES. 

The study of how this great breed was originated 
is a most interesting one, though rather too long 
and complicated to be entered fully into here. The 
Hampshire is the result of skillful mingling of the 
bloods of an old white-faced horned race, called the 
Wiltshire, the Southdown, the Sussex and probably 
the Cotswold breeds. During many years men 
worked gradually toward an ideal, making skillful 
matings and discarding the inferior offspring as 
well as those which went toward the wrong type. 
The result was astonishing, for the Hampshire 
breeds now remarkably true to type and that type 
quite unlike any of the ancestry involved in its cre- 
ation. 

The Hampshire is the largest and heaviest of the 
Down breeds, and is only excelled by the Lincoln in 
weight and occasionally by the Cotswold, among the 
long-wooled races. It has dark brown or black 
points, with bold countenance, and a large ear, set 
on rather low and standing well out to the side. The 
bone is large, limbs especially strong and well set 
on ; fleece fine and white. It presents a very striking 
appearance, the rams having bold Eoman counte- 



52 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

nances, and the ewes characteristic strong but femi- 
nine faces. 

The Hampshire is essentially the sheep for the 
arable farm, fitted by long habit to being pnt in 
hurdles, able to consume a large amount of food and 
to make from it good mutton at an early age. The 
Hampshire lamb is famed for its early maturity 
and great weight. There is no breed that exceeds 
the Hampshire in this respect. Well kept Hamp- 
shires are among the most profitable sheep in the 
world. 

The writer recalls with great pleasure some days 
spent in the Hampshire growing country of Eng- 
land. It was much of it a soil of only moderate 
fertility, resting on chalk, the farms of fairly good 
size. One especially of 1,400 acres he recalls to 
mind, for on that farm were 2,500 magnificent 
Hampshire sheep and lambs. Most of them were 
in hurdles and following the hurdles were seen great 
crops of grain. 

There seemed to be not a single sheep or lamb 
on this farm that was not in perfect health and 
vigor. 

A man ambitious to do the best possible thing 
with sheep can take up the Hampshire breed with 
good courage, for they have in them possibilities in 
the way of great and rapid growth beyond most 
breeds; perhaps beyond any other breed. On the 
other hand few breeds degenerate into more un- 
sightly ''weeds" than bTadly kept and diseased 
Hampshires. The Hampshire ram is often used for 



MUTTON BREEDS 53 

cross-breeding and gets fine, vigorous lambs nicely 
marked with black points. 

At present Hampsliires are enjoying a great wave 
of popularity, and justly so. In Idaho and other 
western states, they have been taken in large num- 
bers, and are used mainly for cross-breeding on 
grade Merino ewes. They are adapted to condi- 
tions where ewes can have good winter feed, can 
lamb early and afterward go to juicy mountain pas- 
tures. The lambs by Hampshire rams and from 
smaller ewes are somewhat more difficult to be de- 
livered than those by Shropshire rams, and often a 
little personal attention may save the life of both 
lamb and ewe. Hampsliires are in use too among 
the mountain men in Virginia who breed sheep on 
rich bluegrass pastures. The Hampshire is not es- 
pecially resistant to parasites, yet it is not more 
afflicted than other down sheep, unless perhaps the 
little Southdown may be somewhat more resistant. 
Breed Hampsliires, if eager to breed one of the 
most marvelously fast-growing and beautiful of 
breeds in its finished product (the fat lambs), but 
no one should breed them who is not willing to give 
them their due of feed and care. 

OXFOEDS. 

The Oxford is in appearance a large Shropshire, 
with a coarser and more open fleece, a larger bone, 
usually a darker face and coarser ear. It is the 
result of crossing the Cotswold and Hampshire 
types, begun about the year 1833. The Oxford is a 



54 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

noble sheep, liaving some of the characteristics of 
the Hampshires; is a good sire with which to cross 
breed and is often used for that purpose. There is 
need of a little more care in management with these 
sheep to avoid parasitism than with some breeds, 
but no man who has grown Oxfords and kept them 
healthy but has found them profitable. The lambs are 
large and growthy, quick to respond to feed and 
ready for market at an early age, with heavy fleeces. 

The Oxford is pre-eminently the sheep for cross- 
breeding. In southern Scotland many Oxford rams 
are in use, bred to ewes of Cheviot or Border 
Leicester type, and the cross-bred lambs sold. The 
lambs from this cross are remarkably large, strong, 
heavy and immense shearers. In America the Ox- 
ford is used for cross-breeding on the ranges with 
marked success, and also to some extent on eastern 
farms on Merino ewes or grades. 

The novice in sheep breeding may here become a 
little impatient and exclaim, ''What! are all the 
down breeds then good for cross-breeding? Is there 
no distinction! Is not the author too impartial?" 

Let us briefly assort things. The Southdown is 
best for early-maturity and early-fattening; the 
Shropshire for everyday purpose ; the Hampshire 
where extraordinary goodness with weight is de- 
sired, and where exceedingly good feed can be al- 
lowed; the Oxford where quite heavy good-shearing 
lambs are desired. Each breed has its field and each 
its distinctive value separate from any other. The 
Suffolk makes more flesh from grass alone than the 



MUTTON BREEDS 



55 



other downs and is a hearty feeder too ; so one pays 
one 's money and takes one 's choice ! 



SUFFOLKS. 



To the northeast of London Hes the county of 
Suffolk. It is a region of rich grasslands and good 




SUFFOLK RAM. 



cattle, with several native breeds of animals, the 
most noted in America being Eed Polled cattle, Suf- 
folk horses and Suffolk sheep. The Suffolk sheep 
are downs, very black of head and legs, a little more 
leggy than Hampshires, but not so woolly as Shrop- 



56 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

sliires with lieads both black and bold. Suffolks 
have smaller heads than Hampshire s, with thinner 
ears. They differ in other particulars, one being habit 
of keep. While Hampshires are nearly always with- 
in the hnrdles, Suffolks are nearly always on grass. 
They have peculiar ability to make much growth on 
grass alone, and to make with a little added grain 
splendid gains. Suffolk lambs have more than once 
won in the carcass contests at the London Smithfield 
show. The breed is not so common in America as 
its merits warrant. Perhaps the bare legs, head and 
light-wooled bellies of the ewes have been displeas- 
ing to American flockmasters. For cross-breeding 
on grade Merino ewes there is hardly a better breed, 
and for this use the amount of wool on the ram cuts 
little figure, if the lambs are all sold, as they 
should be. 

THE LONG-WOOLS. 

LEICESTEKS. 

The Leicester is an old breed little known in the 
United States at the present time but much kept in 
Canada. It is notable as being the first recorded 
sheep to feel the improvement of a genius in breed- 
ing, Eobert Bakewell having undertaken the im- 
provement of the breed in about 1755. Bakewell 
conceived the idea of improving this old, coarse- 
boned, long-wooled breed. Just how he did it we 
would like to know and never will, but it was en- 
tirely by selection, so we are told, and he evidently 
had the master eye for seeing virtues in animals 



MUTTON BREEDS 57 

and knowing which would be transmitted. He made 
such fame as a breeder of sheep that before his 
death his rams were let for the season for as high 
as $2,000 each. 

The Leicester is found in Canada and on some 
of our western ranches. It is a large sheep, with 
white points and a long, rather coarse wool. It is 
finely formed, with an especially wide spread of 
rib, and has an extraordinary facility for taking on 
fat. In truth, it is a defect in the Leicester, accord- 
ing to modern idea, that it loads up too much with 
internal fat. Its best place in our economy is in 
cross-breeding. Leicester rams on Merino ewes pro- 
duce superb feeders with a very good class of wool. 

COTSWOLDS. 

One of the most common breeds in parts of Amer- 
ica thirty years ago was the Cotswold. Common 
they still are in parts of the country. They abound 
in Canada and in some parts of the "West, notably in 
Utah and Oregon. The Cotswold resembles the 
Leicester somewhat, being a large sheep with white 
face and legs and long wool. The face may be gray- 
ish or even light brown, and there is a tuft of wool 
on the forehead. The wool is coarse but adapted to 
certain uses. Cotswolds make gain profitably but 
are not adapted to the production of very young fat 
lambs. The best use of the breed is in cross-breed- 
ing on ewes of Merino foundation, and for this pur- 
pose it has been extensively used in Montana and 
other western states. Cotswolds do not thrive when 



58 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

kept in large flocks in the eastern states, though 
they are healthy in Canada, Oregon and other cooler 
regions. There is hardly any more grand and 
stately sheep than the well-bred and well-fitted Cots- 
wold as it appears at onr great shows. 

LINCOLNS. 

Quite like the Cotswold is the Lincoln. To the 
careful observer, however, there is a considerable 
difference in the type. The Lincoln is the heaviest 
breed, probably, in the world, and in England Lin- 
colns have been known to dress 90 pounds per quar- 
ter. The wool is extraordinarily long, samples be- 
ing shown of 21 inches growth, and rams sometimes 
shear the extraordinary amount of 30 pounds. The 
cross-bred Lincoln-Merino wool is of high value. 

The new Lincoln sheep is the product of Leicester 
crosses upon the old Lincoln. He is truly a magnifi- 
cent creation of the long-wooled character, requiring 
rich pastures and plenty of space. As a mutton 
sheep he is inferior to the down breeds as far as 
quality is concerned, but for crossing purposes no 
class of sheep is in greater demand, and the highest 
prices in recent years have been paid by Argen- 
tine buyers for Lincoln rams. In truth, the great 
mutton exporting business of Argentina is based 
largely upon the use of Lincoln blood on Merino 
foundation, and it is not generally known that their 
sheep are far superior to our own in quality and 
are therefore much more acceptable in the British 
markets. 



MUTTON BREEDS 



59 




60 SHEEP FARMING IX AMERICA 

There is little doubt that ^hen Tre have learned 
our trade better we will in turn nse thonsands of 
rams of both the Lincoln and Cotswold breeds npon 
our rtinge-bred ewes to produce mutton for our owu 
and the foreign markets. 

DOESET HOEXS. 

Properly, the Dorset belongs with the downs, and 
indeed the ancestors of the present Dorset Horns 
were much like the TTiltshire ancestors of the Hamp- 
shire Down sheep. There is now little resemblance 
between the Dorset and the Hampshire breeds, 
though singularly enough each has taken up the 
same tield of endeavor, the production of early 
lambs. The Hampshire lambs usually come at a 
later time than the Dor sets and do not go to market 
quite so young, but each has the habit of fattening 
at an early age, and the Dorset ewe has also the way 
of dropping her lambs at an earlier season than any 
other ewe. Then she is the greatest milker of any 
of the sheep tribe, and because of this large supply 
of milk, and because of their vigorous digestion and 
ability to use grain at an early age the Dorset lambs 
soon attain to good weights and are usually sold fat 
from their mothers' sides. In truth, it is not good 
practice to allow Dorset lambs to attain to an age 
of above six to eight months, and most profit comes 
from selling them at two to four months. 

The Dorset, like the Southdown, is of unmixed 
ancestry, and is one of the most ancient breeds in 
existence, though doubtless much changed by selec- 



MUTTON BREEDS 



61 




62 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

tion of modern and progressive breeders. Before 
cows were used in the dairy in Dorsetshire sheep 
were kept for their milk which, no donbt, accounts 
in part for the wonderful milking powers of the 
Dorset ewe. In truth, many of these ewes are such 
large milkers that it is necessary to relieve them by 
hand stripping for a few days after the lambs are 
born until they become able to take all the milk. 

Dorset Horns are so named because both sexes 
have horns. The rams' horns are large and heavy 
and curved rather closely in front of the head; the 
ewes have light horns that should curve toward the 
front. It is a curious fact that Dorset ewes are. as 
pugnacious as their armament would indicate, often 
attacking stray dogs and lacking almost altogether 
that timidity that characterizes other sheep. A 
sheep-killing dog will sometimes kill Dorset ewes, 
but it is not probable that any dog would begin a 
career of sheep-killing in a Dorset flock. These facts 
win considerable favor for the breed in these days 
of a surplusage of useless curs and many states with 
unsatisfactory dog laws. 

The Dorsets have a form not unlike the South- 
down, though generally more upstanding, and a sim- 
ilar fleece of close, strong wool, with an elastic fiber 
which is very white. They shear better than some 
mutton breeds and the wool is of the first quality. 
They are very docile and thrive in hurdles or on 
grass where proper care is taken to keep them from 
parasites. They have been introduced into several 
states of our country and have thriven wherever 



MUTTON BREEDS 



63 



men have understood their requirements, and have 
failed wherever in the hands of careless or ignorant 
shepherds. It is notable that there are now pro- 
duced in America under the conditions of the east- 
ern states as good Dorsets as there are in the world, 
whereas most of the other mutton breeds rely upon 
importations to maintain their quality. Dorsets find 




SOME OHIO DORSETS. 

their best use in America in the hill regions of the 
South, where early lambs are grown. They are fa- 
vorites in Virginia, West . Virginia, and so far as 
tried in Kentucky, and in the northern states they 
are largely used in the ^^lothouse" lamb business. 
Dorsets are excellent for cross-breeding, the lambs 
growing well and fattening readily, and cross-bred 
ewes from Merino mothers and Dorset sires form 



64 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

tlie best foundation for a flock of producing winter 
lambs. 

THE MOUNTAIN BREEDS. 

CHEVIOTS. 

The Cheviot is classed as a mountain breed, of 
which there are a number in England and Scotland, 
natives of the hill regions. The Cheviot is from the 
Cheviot hills in southern Scotland and northern 
England. It is a remarkably hardy, vigorous sheep, 
standing erect and alert, on strong legs, carrying 
excellent mutton, and a fine fleece of good wool — 
rather fine for a mountain breed. There is scarcely 
anywhere a prettier sheep than the Cheviot. It has 
such an air of interest and intelligence and seems so 
wideawake. The Cheviots have displaced the hardier 
Black-faced breed in all the lower and richer parts 
of Scotland, though in the colder and more heathery 
portions this ancient breed still holds its own. 

The Cheviot has a place in our land. It is well 
adapted to grass farms, to hill regions and wher- 
ever sheep are required to make good mutton large- 
ly from pasture. 

Naturally the higher and cooler regions are best 
adapted to this sheep. The breed is quite well rep- 
resented in America and has thriven in many parts 
of the country. It is in its favor that it is not too 
large, seeing that fat lambs, not too heavy, are now 
most in demand. 

It is a most curious indication of the long line of 
unmixed ancestry of the Cheviot sheep that it is one 



THE MOUNTAIN BREEDS 



65 




66 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

of the most prepotent breeds. Crossed witli almost 
any breed, the Cheviot characters stand out con- 
spicuously; quite often sheep three-fourths Cheviot 
can hardly be distinguished from a pure-bred speci- 
men. Cheviots, like all mountain breeds, are very 
alert and inclined to be a bit wild if not often han- 
dled. They should thrive admirably in the moun- 
tain pastures of West Virginia, Pennsylvania and 
New York. Bear in mind that the peculiar province 
of the Cheviot is to make fat mutton from good 
grass alone, though they respond well to feeding. 

BLACK-FACES. 

The writer feels that it would cause disappoint- 
ment among his readers if he did not make some 
mention of this wonderful little Scotch Black-faced 
highland sheep. In their own land nothing can take 
their place. They have the instincts of true wild 
animals. They love the high peaks and heathery 
slopes, and, scenting storms, are led by that same 
instinct to seek the shelter of the glens. These 
sheep belong with the lands. They pass with the 
farm from one tenant to the other, when farms 
change hands. Their love of home is so great that 
when removed miles away they will often return 
straight across country to their old haunts, swim- 
ming rivers if need be to accomplish their desire. 

The Black-faced sheep are small, moderately well 
formed, with coarse, long wool. They make good 
mutton, which commands in British markets a good 
price, being thought to have a gamey character. They 



THE MOUNTAIN BREEDS 67 

are a comparatively new breed in Scotland, if we 
accept tradition, having existed there but about 140 
years. From whence they came is a mystery. Th«ere 
are no sheep elsewhere in the world like them, the 
Lonks and Herdwicks of northern England having 
most resemblance. They seem to be a spontaneous 
product, creation of environment, to graze those 
heathery hills. 

Of course they had to start from somewhere, and 
the legend that they swam ashore from some sink- 
ing ship of the Spanish Armada is harmless and as 
good as any. The. management of these hardy 
Black-faced sheep is simple ; every day the shepherd 
seeks to see each ewe of the flock, climbing high over 
heather-clad hills with his dog at his side to accom- 
plish this. It is his part to be sure that none of the 
ewes have accidentally gotten upon their backs. They 
are shorn in June or July, being brought down to the 
farmstead for that purpose. It takes a good dog 
and an agile shepherd to round them up and bring 
them down, and it is customary to tie their feet 
when they are shorn, since they struggle like wild 
things. 

In winter they are brought down to the fields and 
given a bite of hay and sometimes turnips. It is 
found, however, that too many turnips encourage 
the growth of horn in the unborn lamb that some- 
times destroys both the unfortunate lamb and its 
mother. 

Thus it is seen that this most beautiful and pic- 
turesque sheep is one that presents unusual diffi- 



68 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

culties to the would-be breeder in America. He 
must beware of overfeeding in winter; he will find 
them hard to drive and pen ; he will find them some- 
what harder than other sheep to restrain within 
boundaries. And still there are situations, like the 
mountains in northern Ontario, in the higher regions 
of California, Oregon and Washington, and along 
the coast islands of Alaska where undoubtedly the 
natural character of the Black-faced sheep would 
make it of great value. 

John Eoss of Mickel Tarrell, Eosshire, Scot- 
land, who fed many Black-faced sheep in the win- 
ter, told me that wild as they were in pasture when 
brought down and put in barns in winter they were 
the most sensible of all sheep. They fed well. So 
far as I have seen in America, Black-faced sheep 
have not when tried been given the right habitat. 
They need the coolest of mountain pastures, such 
as may be found in New England or northern New 
York. They do not thrive when brought to the hot 
cornbelt. 

The writer has devoted this space to the breed be- 
cause of its connection with legend, song and story, 
which have given it a place in almost every man's 
heart, and because he hopes to count loyal Scots 
among his readers. He will never forget his days 
spent among the Lammermoor hills of southern 
Scotland, where the Border Leicesters occupied the 
lower slopes and the Black-faced climbed the heath- 
ery heights and their lambs played about the feet 
of the Twinlaw Cairns. It was a land of peace and 



THE MOUNTAIN BREEDS 69 

quiet, of faithfulness aud almost religious devotion 
to duty. The old steward of the farm had lived 
there in that capacity for 50 years. His son and 
grandson worked on the farm. High upon the slope 
just below the plantation of fir wood, stood a low 
stone cottage beaten with rain and wind, where 
lived the faithful old shepherd and his son, and just 
above this cottage began a great mountain pasture, 
enclosed by stone walls, where there were bits of 
moors from which peat was dug, and great slopes of 
heather, which is a small, fine and dense-growing 
bush on which sheep can subsist. Would that we 
could implant upon our own soil some such spirit 
as pervaded this place, the quiet and peace, the sim- 
ple living and high, manly thinking, the honesty and 
devotion to duty ! 

THE TUNIS AND PERSIAN SHEEP. 

In Asia and Africa began the first civilization, 
and there perhaps began the first domestication of 
the sheep. It is a curious fact that we do not now 
know whence came the ance'stors of our various 
breeds of sheep, nor do we know certainly whether 
they all have a common ancestry, though we may 
infer that it is so from the fact of their readily in- 
terbreeding with each other. All of the wild breeds 
of sheep at present have short tails, whereas most 
domesticated sheep have long tails. It is probable 
that the wild race from which sprung our flocks of 
today is extinct. 

However, it is interesting to note what ad- 



70 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

vance has been made by the Asiatic and African 
breeders of sheep and goats. The Nubian goat is 
probably the most developed in milking power and 
fecundity of all breeds of goats, and the Persian and 
African sheep have also strong development in cer- 
tain ways fitting them to the climates and environ- 
ments in which they were produced and to the needs 
of their owners. 

The Persian and Tunis sheep have evidently com- 
mon origins and belong to the same race. In truth, 
it would seem to the writer that the Tunis breed 
which has existed in America since about 1799 and 
which now may need some infusion of fresh blood 
might with advantage receive an infusion of Persian 
blood. 

The Tunis came to America early in the last cen- 
tury, and was bred near Philadelphia, and after- 
wards in South Carolina and Georgia, where they 
proved to be well adapted to the environment. The 
civil war almost destroyed them. A few survived 
and were shown at the Columbian Exposition in 
Chicago. Soon thereafter some enthusiastic ad- 
mirers began breeding these sheep in Indiana. It 
is possible that in their time of adversity the blood 
of the Tunis was not kept quite unmixed, since there 
is more variety in type among them than is usual 
among pure breeds. 

The distinguishing character of the Tunis breed 
is the head, which should be hornless, covered with 
tawny yellowish brown hair, the nose may incline 
to roman character, the ear should droop and be 



THE MOUNTAIN BREEDS 



71 




72 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

rather heavy. The form is much like other mutton 
sheep except that the legs are usually long and the 
neck the same. The fleece is soft, fine, fairly abun- 
dant, and varies much in color; it may be white, or 
brown, or reddish, or the colors may be intermixed. 
In the Persian the same characteristics are noted, 
with a likelihood of black predominating. 

The distinguishing feature of the Tunis is the 
fat tail. This seems to have been originally planned 
as a store-house to tide the animal over periods of 
drought and bad pasturage. When tails are not 
docked they are moderately long and the fleshy part 
hangs down about six or eight inches. This is so 
inconvenient at the breeding season that ewes 
usually have their tails docked, besides there is in 
the United States no popular clamor for fat tails, 
which are in African and Asiatic regions considered 
very delicious and are used in place of butter. 

When the tails are docked there is yet an accu- 
mulation of fat across the top of the rump. 

Tunis sheep fatten very readily and their lambs 
are especially quick to become plump and ready for 
the fancy hothouse lamb trade. It is for this pur- 
pose that they are mostly used, though the Tunis 
rams crossed upon almost any breed of ewes get 
good lambs. 

The Persian sheep were introduced into the 
United States in 1891 and bred in California, Ne- 
vada and other western states. They are very 
large, very active, good feeders on the range, and 
when crossed on Merinos the lambs prove to be very 



THE MOUNTAIN BREEDS 



73 




74 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

easily fattened. Of a herd of half-blood Persian- 
Merino ewes a California owner says: ^'They are 
omnivorous feeders and great rustlers for food. If 
there is anything between heaven and earth to eat 
they will get it." The writer has observed a tend- 
ency among some Persians to foot disease when kept 
on wet soils. They are true sheep of the desert, 
and there they would seem to have a useful place. 

Among the breeds described the would-be sheep 
owner can choose one and he should stick to that 
one. Cross-breeding is permissible for the market, 
but let no one undertake at this day to create a new 
breed of sheep by mingling the bloods of breeds 
already having received the care and thought of gen- 
erations of skillful breeders. One man's lifetime is 
too short to establish a breed, and there seems small 
need of another. 

It may be well again to remind readers who may 
happen to be living in the cornbelt or south of it, 
that the easiest and surest success in breeding and 
maintaining a mutton flock is to select ewes of the 
most ^^ muttony" of the Merinos (Delaines, Black- 
tops or Eambouillets), choosing rams of whatever 
breed of English sheep best suits his purpose and 
situation, and cross-breeding and selling the lambs. 
It is unfortunate that we have too long neglected 
what may rightly be termed American breeds — the 
Blacktops, Delaines and in a slighter sense the Eam- 
bouillets, for in ewes of such type is our best chance 
for quite easy success in sheep breeding. Naturally 
there must be breeders of all of the breeds described, 



THE MOUNTAIN BREEDS 75 

or we should have no source of rams. There are too 
situations where ewes of purely English breeding 
are successful — in the cool regions along our north- 
ern border or on mountains or anywhere in small 
flocks where shifted often from place to place; but 
for the everyday farmer Merino ewes are safer and 
surer to bring profit. 



CHAPTER III. 
CROSS-BREEDING. 

Notwithstanding- the great excellence of many of 
the pure breeds of sheep it will be a long time before 
we will be free from the practice of cross-breeding. 
There is a necessity for this in sheep breeding much 
more urgent than in cattle breeding, or, in fact, with 
any other farm animals. Very few pure-bred sheep 
reach our markets. Nor will they come in large 
numbers for many years. The reason for this is to 
be found in the fact that so large a per cent of our 
sheep are grown upon the western ranges. There 
ewe flocks seem most profitable when they have a 
Merino foundation. Merinos from time immemorial 
have been range sheep, the only break in their habit 
being the few decades that they were kept upon east- 
ern farms. Merinos are hardy, are used to drouths 
and short feed, have the instinct of herding, are 
easily managed. Moreover they retain their wool 
well up to considerable age. Wool is a far greater 
factor in western sheep husbandry than it is in the 
country to the east. Flocks must be good shearers, 
must be hardy, must herd well. 

But the Merino when kept pure is an inferior 
mutton sheep. Moreover it is an inferior breeding 
sheep. An infusion of mutton blood makes the ewe 

(76) 



CROSS-BREEDING 77 

a better mother, her lambs stronger, she suckles 
them better. She feeds better, too, and is a '^better 
rustler." Then her progeny is in large part des- 
tined to reach the great markets when about six 
months of age.' Therefore the better grown and 
heavier it is the more money it will bring. Thus 
there is often sought a class of rams that will make 
the best lambs — regardless of their fitness for long- 
continued life upon the range they will not natu- 
rally remain there more than one summer. Thus 
the complexity of cross-breeding is increased, for 
from the mother having in her own body an infusion 
of mutton blood there is secured a lamb having a 
sire of pure mutton breeding. What sort of cross 
makes the best ewe, what sort of cross upon her 
makes the best market lamb! To this question 
there would naturally be as many answers as there 
are supporters of breeds of sheep. There is hardly 
any commingling of bloods that has not use for some 
special environment. We may clear the matter up 
somewhat by discussing a few crosses and their 
results. 

At the outset let it be said that the influence of 
the sire and dam are theoretically equal. Some hid- 
den power of the one or the other may seem to cause 
the offspring to resemble more nearly the one parent 
than the other, but no man can safely predict whether 
this influence will reside in the sire or the dam. 
Naturally, as she nourishes the lamb, the ewe has 
greater chance to influence her progeny than the sire. 
Thus if a ewe of a small race is mated with a ram 



78 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

of a large race tlie lamb must be nourished, both 
before and after birth, by the smaller ewe. It will 
grow to be of greater size than its mother, but will 
not equal the size of its sire. Nor will it be identi- 
cally the same as though the cross was reversed. 
That is, supposing we are considering the Merino 
of one of the lesser strains, and the Hampshire, the 
natural way of crossing is to use the Hampshire ram 
on the Merino ewe. The result is a lamb that grows 
to be larger than its mother, and smaller than its 
sire. 

Eeversing the process, we choose a typical Merino 
ram and mate him to a Hampshire ewe and get a 
lamb that may never equal the ewe in stature, but 
excels considerably its sire, and also excels the lamb 
of identically the same blood from the Merino 
mother. The better nourishment both before and 
after birth causes this result. It is seen then that 
the better the ewe the better her lamb. Neverthe- 
less, it may happen that a class of moderately small 
ewes may yield most profit since they consume for- 
age about in proportion to their size, thus a flock of 
1,000 medium-sized ewes bred to fine, strong mutton- 
bred rams would very likely yield a better weight 
of lambs than a flock of 800 larger ewes and consume 
practically the same amount of feed. 

In other words, the ram is just half of the flock, 
and by far the easier half to provide the forage for. 
Thus the ram cannot well be too good. 

To freshen the blood of the pure Merino on the 
range a number of infusions have been tried. The 



CROSS-BREEDING 79 

Cotswold blood does well; a flock having one-quarter 
or even one-eighth of Cotswold blood is increased in 
size and stamina remarkably. To get a flock of one- 
quarter Cotswold blood one must first get one-half 
blood Cotswold-Merino rams to use on his pure-bred 
Merinos. For some exceedingly rich ranges the one- 
half blood Cotswold-Merino ewes are used and with 
good success. These ewes are exceedingly good for- 
agers and raise hardy fast-growing lambs. 

DISHLEY MERINOS. 

On page 219 is shown a flock of newly-shorn 
Dishley Merinos, the breeding of E. Delacour of 
Gouzangrez, France. I mention this breed not be- 
cause it is now found in the United States but be- 
cause it has played some part in the history of 
sheep breeding, and because assuredly I have never 
seen a finer flock of sheep than M. Delacour 's. 
There are some 2,000 of them together, white^ clean 
and plump, their skins pink and eyes bright, with 
never a trace of stomach worms about them. Dish- 
ley Merinos are a hybrid sheep, product of mingling 
the blood of the Merino and the Leicester. The very 
difficult thing of getting a fusion of these very 
diverse bloods has been accomplished, although one 
might well ask, as he studies M. Delacour 's sheep, 
whether the influence of the Merino ancestry had not 
been pretty well lost, the present form of the sheep 
being much that of the Leicester, with, however, a 
finer, softer and better wool and a smaller body than 
the pure-bred Leicester. Once this breed had con- 



80 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

siderable fame in England and America. It is yet 
a most worthy slieep. 

The Lincoln cross does admirahly on some types 
of Merino ewes and is mnch esteemed in some re- 
gions of the West. The Oxford cross has given 
good results also as a permanent infusion in the 
range flock. There are a few sheep owners who use 
the Hampshire for this purpose, though the general 
opinion is now that the blood of the downs cuts 
short the yield of wool. 

The Leicester blood makes an admirable infusion 
into the range flock. It is said that not more than 
one-quarter or one-eighth of it is needed to give 
strength and hardiness. The Dorset has been tried 
and found worthy ; some of the best range ewes the 
writer has ever seen have been in part of Dorset 
blood. Dorset blood especially helps the milking 
qualities of Merino ewes and makes them able to 
push their lambs forward astonishingly. 

Though the writer knows of no instance of its use 
he is of the opinion that the use of Cheviot blood 
would prove a very desirable addition to herds 
ranging in the mountains of the West. Probably 
one-quarter of Cheviot blood would be enough. 
Cheviots make flesh readily from grass alone and 
are remarkably hardy and are very great rustlers 
for feed. 

CKOSS-BEEEDIXG FOR THE LAMB MARKET. 

Considering the western range sheep first, various 
breeds have been used for production of market 



CROSS-BREEDING 



81 



Iambs. At one time the Long-wools, Cotswolds, 
Leicester or Lincoln were considered best for this 
purpose. Rams of either of these breeds will beget 
fine, strong lambs that will feed well and grow to 
large size. They will not be so fat at weaning time 
nor come into market so early as lambs from one of 




DORSET EWES. 



the down breeds, bnt they do splendidly in the feed- 
lot and attain heavy weights — in truth, often too 
heavy weights. 

The Hampshire gets splendid lambs, well marked 
with brown points, easily made fat and selling near 
the top of the market. One can hardly make a mis- 
take in using Hampshire rams if he wishes to make 
market lambs. Hampshire grade lambs will usually 



82 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

be fat enough for the butchers when they come from 
the range, and if they are fed will ripen very early. 
They attain to large weights. 

The Oxford ram gets a lamb a little larger, prob- 
ably, than the Hampshire, a strong, hardy fellow, 
that feeds well. He weighs heavy and makes good, 
but not so early as the other downs. He shears 
heavier. 

The Shropshire ram gets fine, active, growthy 
lambs that mature sooner than the Oxfords and sell 
first rate. They will often be fat enough for the 
killers when they leave the range. 

The Southdown gets merry, plump, roly-poly 
lambs that are fat first of all and are apt to bring 
most money per pound in the market. They will 
not weigh quite so much as the Shropshire grades, 
but will be ripe earlier. The grand champion load 
of range lambs at the International at Chicago in 
1906 was a load of Southdown cross-breed lambs. 
The western flockmaster need not fear to use South- 
down rams if he means to sell the lambs. They will 
make good and that very early. 

The Dorset gets lambs that weigh unusually well 
and the ewe lambs should always be saved to be put 
in the flock, since Dorset blood in the ewe flock is a 
gold mine to the flock owner. 

At the International Live Stock Exposition in 
1910 were exhibited the first carlots of grade Dorset 
lambs ever shown in America. One lot coming from 
New York, out of grade ewes, was of great beauty 
and weighed quite 8 poimds per head heavier than 



CROSS-BREEDING 83 

any other lambs at the show. It is doubtful whether 
any other breed can produce by cross-breeding a 
lamb that is better to feed or will attain in a given 
time to greater weight. 

Cross-breeding on the ranges is not without its 
difficulties. The problem is to maintain the original 
ewe flock in its integrity. Cross-bred lambs that 
may sell for the top of the market at the river mar- 
kets may be unfit for retention on the range, be- 
cause of the too large proportion of mutton blood. 
The best plan is to breed a portion of the ewes of 
highest quality from the standpoint of the range 
man to rams especially suited to range use, and thus 
to maintain the flock in its required qualities, letting 
all of the cross-bred lambs go to market. 

CROSS-BEEEDING IN EASTERN PASTURES, 

There is not the same reason for cross-breeding 
in eastern lands. In truth too much of that is done 
at all times and types are destroyed by useless com- 
binings of bloods. If one starts out with a Shrop- 
shire flock he should endeavor to make it a better 
Shropshire flock by purchase of better Shropshire 
rams than he has been in habit of using. If he needs 
greater vigor and constitution he can get it probably 
quite as easily by choosing an unrelated ram breed, 
it may be, at a distance from him, having first rate 
vigor and constitution, and of the same breed. The 
same is true of the Cotswold, Oxford, Southdown, 
and other breeds. There are not enough of the pure 
breeds now, and they should not be mixed unless for 



84 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

some special purpose, and it must be remembered 
tliat as the cross-bred progeny should go to market 
the process of cross-breeding is a suicidal one. 

There are occasions, however, when cross-breeding 
on the farm is desirable. One may ' buy western 
ewes and ship them home. These are destined for 
lamb-growing exclusively and no attempt will be 
made to maintain the flock. These ewes then may be 
mated with a ram suitable to the market and the 
time of year aimed at. If for hothouse lamb trade 
a Southdown, Tunis, Hampshire, Shropshire or Dor- 
set should be used. If to lamb later and grow the 
lambs mainly on grass the Tunis and Dorset may 
be eliminated and the Cheviot and Oxford added to 
the list from which rams may be drawn. Or if the 
lambs are to come late and be fed the next winter 
one of the long-wools may be chosen. Or, if the flock 
happens to be placed in one of those rare regions 
like the hills of Ohio where sheep are yet grown 
largely for their fleece, the Delaine or Eambouillet, 
or Spanish Merino ram may be used. 

There are regions, however, where cross-breeding 
is imperatively demanded. That is in the early lamb 
breeding regions of the Virginias, Tennessee and 
Kentucky. Here are found types of native mountain 
sheep of a peculiar character. They may be said to 
be true ^^ American" sheep, descendants of the ear- 
lier importations. The unmixed native mountain 
sheep is leggy, thin in neck, light in fleece, having 
vsomewhat of an open fleece as though coming from 
an open-wooled breed, and very often the ewes have 



CROSS-BREEDING 85 

horns. It may be supposed that the first colonists 
sailing as they often did from Bristol and Plymouth, 
in the south of England, brought with them the na- 
tive sheep of those regions among which would be 
the Dorsets and various types of long-wools. These 
mountain ewes though handsome to look at are bet- 
ter than they at first appear. They are active, good 
feeders, very prolific, and good mothers. Their 
lambs are not of first rate quality unmixed, but 
when sired by rams of good mutton type they grow 
finely and sell well. The favorite sire for this busi- 
ness has been the Southdown, in truth no breed can 
get a better lamb or one ripening earlier than this 
old standby. Shropshires are often used, also, and 
get a heavier lamb. Hampshires are in great favor 
where tried and Dorsets have their strenuous advo- 
cates, especially in Virginia, where they have been 
used most. 

The advantage of Dorset blood is twofold : first 
the lambs attain very good weights, usually out- 
weighing the progeny of down rams, and the ewe 
lambs if retained on the farm make admirable 
mothers for successive generations. Lambs in these \ 
regions are usually born in March and fattened 
mainly on grass, going to market in June and July. 
The source of supply of these ewes is from the small 
farmers in the mountains. Could these men be in- 
duced to improve their flocks by use of better rams 
the benefit would be immediate and marked. There 
is no doubt that an infusion of fresh blood from 
any of the down or Dorset breeds would greatly 



li 



86 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

benefit these mountain flocks. At present they are 
suffering from the result of long-continued in- 
breeding. An infusion of fresh and unrelated 
blood would marvelously improve them. 

Earlier in these pages I have in this -1911 edition 
given some space to the thought that the '^ mut- 
tony'' Merinos are splendidly adapted to stocking 
eastern farms. With Merinos, Delaines, Blacktops 
or Eambouillets the greatest profit comes from 
cross-breeding. There is fear, however, that in 
doing this at present, when the ewe flocks of these 
breeds are in all too insufficient supply, one will lose 
one's breed altogether, since the cross-bred lambs 
had better be all sent to market. The ideal plan to 
pursue is to use two rams, one the most ''muttony" 
of Merinos of the type of the ewes, breeding him to 
half of the ewes (the better ones), the other ram of 
mutton breeding and all of his lambs going to mar- 
ket, while the pure-bred Merino ewe lambs will be 
saved to add to the flock. If one cannot follow this 
course and is uncertain of where one can get a re- 
newed supply of ewes, one can use a mutton ram 
one year, marketing the lambs, a Merino the next 
year, giving chance to save enough ewe lambs to keep 
the flock strong. Opinion is much divided as to the 
wisdom of crossing the families of Merinos among 
themselves. A dash of Eambouillet blood increases 
the size of the smaller families of Merinos, and 
gives better feeding powers and mothering faculties. 
On Eambouillet ewes a cross of Blacktop is said 
considerably to help the shearing and to make the 



CROSS-BREEDING 87 

lambs earlier-maturing. In general, however, it will 
be found that breeders of Merinos will be sticklers 
for pure breeding, not one admitting that the cross 
of any other Merino family improves his type. 

From my study of profits in general sheep-farm- 
ing, I am convinced that Merino ewes can hardly 
have too much mutton character; it is not the ex- 
traordinary fleece that the ewe may bear that makes 
her profitable. Eather it is her ability to resist 
parasites, to subsist on coarse food, to raise a good 
lamb and withal to yield a fairly satisfactory fleece. 



CHAPTER IV. 
SELECTION AND MANAGEMENT. 

RESTOCKING A FAEM WITH SHEEP. 

Supposing that we have decided to embark in the 
sheep industry, and have decided on a breed, the 
next consideration is how to set about filling the 
void of sheep upon our farm. Farms differ in size, 
conformation and soil; conditions vary greatly, so 
that no rule can be laid down that will be applicable 
to all places, yet there are a few facts that are of 
general application. In England and France there 
are farms almost entirely devoted to sheep; they 
carry little other stock, and grow crops mainly to 
be fed to the flock, with only grain in rotation. 

These farms are very profitable when well man- 
aged, and greatly build the soil and the fortunes of 
the owners. We cannot yet advocate the attempt to 
establish in our land such sheep farms as these; at 
least the growth of such a farm should be very 
gradual, and any attempt to at once establish such 
a one would result disastrously in nine cases out of 
ten. We have no class of expert shepherds such as 
would be needed to care for a flock on such a farm, 
nor would the importation of British shepherds help 
us, for we have problems that they know not of, and 

(88) 



SELECTION AND MANAGEMENT 89 

our range of feeds is quite different from theirs. 
With a right understanding of the matters and a 
gradual adaptation of our farms to sheep growing, 
and a habit of care once formed we can devote whole 
farms to sheep as well as our British cousins, but 
that is a work that must come with time and ex- 
perience. 

At present, then, the farmer should start with a 
small flock, letting it increase gradually, and trying 
to grow in knowledge and experience as the flock 
grows in size. 

Nor would it be wise or prudent to begin with a 
flock of pure-bred ewes. A few pure-breds should 
be purchased, say ten or twelve, the rest of the flock 
may well be of grades. The ram should always be 
pure-bred and of as good quality as can be secured. 
He is half the flock, and if he is mated with grades 
and is required to supply all their deficiencies he 
has great need to be a good one. 

SELECTIOX OF THE EAM. 

Choose not an extra large ram, but one of medium 
size for the breed selected. Size does not always go 
with vigor or prepotency, or ability to transmit good 
qualities. It is rare that the largest ram of a lot 
has the most vigor or quality. Choose a ram that 
has short legs (they go with early maturity), with 
wide breast, avoiding the rams where ''both legs 
come out of the same hole in the body," choose the 
one with well-sprung rib and a level, straight back, 
looking of course for a good leg of mutton, which is 



90 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

after all about all that there is in a sheep, from the 
butcher's standpoint. Then be sure that there is a 
thick, muscular neck, a bright, quick eye, a brisk 
movement denoting vim and vigor. Such a ram will 
leave his impress indelibly upon the flock. If one 
cannot personally select his ram, he may often leave 
it to the good judgment of the seller, specifying 
what is wanted, and the novice will generally get 
better service from the honorable vendor than were 
he to attempt to select for himself. 

Fleece is of course important, and minor points, 
such as markings and absence of scurs or horns on 
all breeds save Merinos and Dorsets. But first of 
all in importance is to get a ram boiling over with 
vim and vigor. 

A ram of such character will readily care for 40 
or 50 ewes if hand coupling is practiced, allowing 
but one service to each ewe. He may indeed go to 
more than that when in his prime, aged from one 
year to four or five. 

KEEPING A TYPE. 

At the showring one often hears a remark from 
some student of breeds, ''that is a good pen, but off 
on type," or, ''that is a good sheep, but not of the 
right type for the breed." What, then, is type! 

Type is style, conformation, character. It is a 
something distinct and definite, though hard to de- 
scribe, that belongs with each breed. It may not 
always be of much value, from a dollar-and-cents 
standpoint, yet a flock lacking in type is not attract- 



SELECTION AND MANAGEMENT 



91 



ive and cannot hope to do much in the showring. 
For example, a Cheviot true to type has an erect 
ear, an alert manner, a way of carrying its head. A 
flock of Cheviots that lacked this erect ear, this 
sprightliness of look and carriage, would fail very 
much in type and would not be attractive. Types 




A RAMBOUILLET RAM. 



change as ideals change. The Shropshire has under- 
gone a notable evolution within 20 years, has de- 
creased somewhat in scale, has gained in compact- 
ness, in covering, in beauty. The shepherd should 
study type so as to know what the correct ideal is 
for his own especial breed and then choose his ram 
to help him fix that type. 



92 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

This does not mean that he should be a slave to 
other men's caprices; there are fashions that are 
foolish and that sooner or later will work the un- 
doing of their followers. One is wise to steer clear 
of them as far as he is able. Or a man may have 
within him the creative instinct that will enable him 
to evolve a new and better ideal, and to breed a new 
and more desirable type. There is need in America 
of much more independence than exists now in this 
matter. The last thing has not been learned in sheep 
breeding, nor in all cases the most profitable type 
evolved. In England there is a constant evolution 
going on and breeds do not remain stationary very 
long. Their work is done in various ways, usually 
by selection and careful matings, sometimes by judi- 
cious and skillful introduction of new blood. This 
is more easily accomplished there than here owing 
to the lack of prejudice against such practice and 
the different rules of their flock books. The safe 
plan here is to work within recognized breeds. 

Here is an illustration. It throws much light 
upon the creation of breeds in the good Old World. 
The writer met a breeder of, let us say, Dartmoor 
sheep. (In fact it was another breed.) This man 
was exhibiting at the Eoyal show, and pressed the 
writer to visit his pens and inspect the sheep. There 
was among them an especially good ram and the 
following conversation took place: Writer, ''He is 
a splendid animal. I should think he would get first 
in his place.'' 

*' Indeed, I hope he will, and championship too, 



SELECTION AND MANAGEMENT 



93 




94 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

and I think he is sure of both if the judge does not 
think him too good. ' ' 

*^But how can he be too good; he is pure Dart- 
moor in blood, is he not!" 

''Well," cautiously, "I'll not deny that there may 
be a drop of other blood in him, just a drop, and not 
too much." The writer saw the point, and curiosity 
led him back after the showing. He found the 
owner jubilant. ' ' Did your ram win first ! ' ' 

** Indeed he won first, and championship too." 

''And what did the judge say?" 

"Indeed the judge said that a Dartmoor could not 
be too good." 

However, the writer does not by any means advise 
the ordinary breeder to attempt to help his breed 
by an admixture of foreign blood. That is for the 
great creators with unusual instinct and insight and 
patience and perseverance to undertake. 

FIXING TYPE. 

Sometimes one has in his flock a few individuals, 
or maybe but one, that is of unusual beauty and ex- 
cellence. This may arise from a skillful combining 
of bloodlines within the breed, or there may be born 
within the flock an animal different and better than 
any of the others. We may not be able to point the 
reason for this difference — this betterment. It is, 
perhaps, a "mutation," as the newer students of 
breeding would say. However it came, it is such 
that we wish very much to ^x it in the flock, to breed 
many like unto it. How can we accomplish this? 



SELECTION AND MANAGEMENT 



95 




96 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

To fix it in its entirety may indeed prove impossible, 
if we have but one animal possessing this unusual 
excellence. The best that we can do is to breed it, 
supposing it to be a ram, to a number of the most 
likely ewes and save the ewe lambs that come near- 
est the type sought. Should any of these ewe lambs 
show weakness of constitution they must be rejected, 
or v^t least ignored in this effort, and the strong ones 
may be bred to their own sire. The progeny of 
them will carry three-fourths of his blood, and will 
be much like him in appearance and character. Sup- 
posing, now, there happen to be two lambs each 
having unusual quality, possessing this desired 
type, each sired by the same sire but by different 
dams. They may be bred together and another 
step taken towards fixity in character. 

It is worth considering that in breeding a ewe to 
her own sire one is not inbreeding more than when 
he breeds together two animals born from two ewes 
and having a common sire. The closest inbreeding 
is when a ram is bred to a ewe having the same 
mother as well as the same sire. 

There is absolutely no other way to fi.x type or to 
get great uniformity in a flock than this system of 
inbreeding. It has been adopted to a greater or less 
extent by all the great improvers of breed. 

There are certain dangers inherent in a system of 
inbreeding. Nature permits a certain amount of it, 
but it is done always under the law of combat. The 
strongest male gets possession of the females ; thus 
nature's weaklings, no matter what the form or 



SELECTION AND MANAGEMENT 97 

fleece, are steadily weeded out. Under nature's 
system the males of all animals of the deer and 
sheep families roam far during the breeding season, 
yet it is likely that incestuous breeding is very 
common. 

The effect of incestuous breeding is not well 
understood and there are men who deny its dangers. 
There seems, however, to be abundant evidence that 
it develops an accumulation of weaknesses of con- 




BLACK-FACED RAMS. 



stitution, it makes the progeny delicate and lessens 
its size and vitality. 

Furthermore, it often seems to lead to partial or 
total sterility. Not to go deeply into this debatable 
subject we will say that inbreeding is probably abso- 
lutely necessary in the creation of breeds and in the 
further development and fixing of types, but that it 
should be attempted only by the skilled breeder, the 
man sure that he has a type worth fixing. The man 



98 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

who is breeding for the market will find that he will 
do best to keep as far from inbreeding as possible. 
And this brings us to ' 

EENEWED VITALITY PROM FRESH BLOOD. 

There is something wonderfully invigorating in 
the mingling of unrelated bloods. This has long 
been recognized by the advocates of cross-breeding. 
It has indeed become a well-known saying that 
^'cross-bred animals are most thrifty." '' Cross- 
bred lambs fatten first." Among cattle breeders 
the truth is admitted, and swine breeders very often 
cross-breed for greater vigor and thrift. 

It is not so generally known that the bringing to- 
gether of unrelated animals, especially of the same 
breed if they may happen to have been grown under 
different environment, most usually brings as much 
added vigor and thrift as though two distinct breeds 
had been brought together. There is great advan- 
tage in bringing vigor without losing the breed and 
its special character and purpose. 

The man, then, who finds his well-bred flock need- 
ing a renewal of life, needing a general '' toning up" 
and rejuvenation, should not resort to cross-breed- 
ing, supposing that he has already a breed of value 
for his purpose, but should seek within his own 
breed sires as remotely related as he can find, and 
possessing as much health and vigor as he can find. 

He will find a marvelous result to come from this 
new mating with fresh blood. His old flock has in 
it latent excellencies that lie dormant onlv because 



SELECTION AND MANAGEMENT 99 

the spark of life has burned dimly for a time. With 
the renewal of that vital spark and the greater in- 
tensity of life that results these old and almost for- 
gotten excellencies will be in a manner revived, so 
that the progeny may be not merely better than the 
dams but better than the sire as well. The writer 
has seen very striking instances of this, when the 
ewe flock was of good inheritance and only suffer- 
ing from lack of fresh blood. 

VITALITY THE THING TO STRIVE FOR. 

The sheep under domestication is not so strong 
as we would like to see it. In truth there is no ani- 
mal under our care with less resistance than the 
sheep. Men do not enough consider this. They 
study points, like the quality of the fleece, or the 
form of the head, the covering of the legs or nose, 
the shape of the ear, and doubtless these are all of 
use, but the first and foremost essential in a profit- 
able flock is vigor, vitality, life. That, if it is abun- 
dant, will insure strong lambs, will insure ewes with 
right mother instinct and milk to serve that will 
insure lambs that eat and thrive and grow and fat- 
ten and bring good prices at the market, no matter 
whether the ear is true to type or the wool grows 
on the nose or not. To the market breeder the 
writer counsels^seek vigor, build constitution, en- 
courage health and thrift and the profits will be sure. 

SELECTING THE EWES. 

Pure-bred ewes may be selected much as the ram 
is, avoiding overgrown individuals, and seeking for 



100 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

uniformity of type and evidence of perfect health. 
In buying any sheep look well to the skin, that it be 
pink in color and the fleece bright and elastic, for 
a pale skin and sunken fleece are sure indications 
of lack of health and should invariably be rejected, 
no matter how good the blood or breeding. The 
grades that are to be made the body of the flock 
may be of Merino foundation, with excellent ex- 
pectation of success. If these are not to be found 
near at home, they may often be bought of good 
quality at the great markets when discarded by the 
ranchmen. Usually ewes are sent to market be- 
cause of their age and beginning lack of teeth, so 
that it is not profitable to retain them for more than 
two lamb crops on the farm. They will thrive for 
that time and, having saved the best of their ewe 
lambs, there is thus laid the foundation of a useful 
grade flock, while the mothers may be fattened and 
sent back to market. These western ewes have in- 
deed made good on eastern farms and in the South 
as well. Having sufficient Merino blood to make 
them hardy and shear well, coming free from para- 
sites, they are all ready to make good profit for 
their new owners. See to it that one does not get 
old toothless ewes. Do not insist on getting those 
with black faces. See that on their arrival on the 
farm they are carefully dipped, to prevent outbreaks 
of scab; so far as possible put them on fresh, 
uninfected grass, so that they will not in their ngw 
homes pick up internal parasites. Breed them to 
good rams, sell all of the lambs, and after two or 



SELECTION AND MANAGEMENT 101 

more crops sell the ewes and get a fresli start. 
Thus treated these westerns are almost sure to re- 
turn good profits. 

It is unwise to select ewes shearing too heavy 
fleeces. A moderately heavy fleece betokens the 
stronger sheep with greater feeding capacity. Se- 
lect that sort. Choose the short-legged ewes, with 
good backs, and as thick as you can find them. 

The best time of the year to stock a farm with 
sheep is in the early fall. Getting the ewes home 
then, you have time to make their acquaintance 
while work is not crowding on the farm. Then you 
can see to the mating, and during the first winter 
things will go as you plan, and you are certain of 
one good lamb crop. Your troubles will not begin 
for six or eight months. They need not begin at 
all if you will observe carefully some rules for 
avoidance of parasites, to be laid down later. 

GETTING HOME WITH THE FLOCK. 

The writer remembers with delight the day when 
he drove to Woodland Farm his first flock of ewes. 
It was a fine sunny day in November. The sheep 
were well selected and round and plump, all young 
ewes. They traveled willingly along the country 
road through a quiet neighborhood where great oaks 
overarched the way and stopping now and then to 
browse the green grass among the purpling wild 
asters. 

The writer was but a boy then, newly wedded, 
filled with high hopes and dreaming brave dreams 



X02 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

of the future. The young wife met him and to- 
gether they drove home the little flock ! Happy be- 
ginning it proved to be, though many lessons re- 
mained to be learned and many discouragements to 
be fought through, yet the coming of the flock 
meant the beginning of the upbuilding of the old 
farm and of the fortunes of its owners. 

IMPORTANCE OF DIPPING. 

When the flock comes home the first duty is to 
give it a thorough dipping. There are two reasons 
for this : the one that there may be ticks upon the 
sheep; the other because of danger from scab 
germs. Any sheep shipped by rail or penned in 
stock yards or railway stock pens is liable to be 
infected with scab germs. One or two scab insects 
on a sheep may multiply until the entire flock is 
scabby in a few months and entail great suffering 
upon the sheep and loss upon the owner. Preven- 
tion is easy and cheap, though cure after the disease 
has progressed far is harder. Another reason for 
dipping is the sheep tick. This is a common pest 
upon farms and greatly interferes with the thrift 
of sheep, while it is entirely preventable, and in 
truth upon the farm of the writer with a thousand 
sheep there are years when not a single tick is to 
be found. Sheep ticks so far as we know inhabit 
no other animal and once rid of them you will re- 
inain rid of them unless you buy infested sheep or 
carry ticks upon your own clothing or they are 
brought by shearers. 



SELECTION AND MANAGEMENT 



103 



It is very easy and inexpensive entirely to rid a 
flock of ticks and as easy to prevent the attack of 
scab. 



THE SCAB GERM. 



This is a minute form of parasitic insect too small 
to be easily discovered with the naked eye, which 
by burrowing in the skin, or, rather, by irritating 




DirPING SHEEP AT THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN. 

the skin and causing it to form a crust by its own 
exudations beneath which it burrows, greatly afflicts 
the sheep, causing intense itching, loss of wool, loss 
of flesh, and in the end frequently brings death from 
the result of the distress and emaciation consequent 
upon its disturbance. 

The scab germ multiplies with fearful rapidity, 
each female laying in two or three days 15 eggs, 
of which ten will hatch females and five males. 



104 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

These eggs hatch and soon mature insects that begin 
laying eggs. Gerlach, the German authority, says 
that in 15 days one female will become the mother 
of 15, after 30 days of 150, after 45 days of 1,500, 
after 60 days of 15,000. Up to this time there has 
not been much seen of the result of the disease, but 
here begins the wholesale onslaught of the legion 
upon their hosts, for in 75 days there are 150,000, 
and in 90 days 1,500,000! Now let them alone for 
a little longer and the result is sufficiently terrify- 
ing. 

The symptoms of scab are first the uneasiness of 
the sheep, which reaches around to the affected 
part (that is apt to be on the shoulder, neck or side, 
though it may appear in almost any part, but wher- 
ever it appears it causes intense itching) and bites 
at the wool or paws with its foot trying to scratch 
the spot. If now you will carefully examine the 
animal you will find under the wool at this spot of 
infection the skin whitened and perhaps exuding 
a watery secretion. One cannot with the naked 
eye see the scab insects at work. A little later this 
spot if untreated becomes a veritable scab and the 
adjacent regions are attacked. It rapidly spreads 
throughout the flock, the affected sheep rubbing 
against posts and racks, dislodging mites that 
fasten in turn upon other sheep. 

To cure scab thorough dipping is necessary. To 
prevent it all sheep should be well dipped after 
every railway journey or exposure in infected 
yards or pens. Dipping for prevention is cheap 



SELECTION AND MANAGEMENT 105 

and easy. Dipping for cure is not so much harder. 
The main thing is to dip, and dip thoroughly. 

THE DIPPING VAT. 

This should be a simple trough of wood or metal 
or concrete, 16 inches wide, 4 feet deep and as long 
as one wishes to build. The shorter the vat the 
slower the process of dipping, as the sheep when 
scabby must soak for two minutes. For a farm vat 
a length of 10 to 12 feet will be ample, as time can 
be allowed them thoroughly to soak. The vat must 
be narrow so that the sheep cannot turn around in 
it. It must be deep so that each sheep can be 
plunged clear in all over so that no spot will remain 
untreated. It is not necessary to lower the sheep 
into the vat or to raise them out again ; they may as 
well be thrown in or made to jump in at one end, 
and that end of the vat should go down perpendicu- 
larly; at the other end there must be a gradual in- 
cline up which they can walk. For a small flock the 
bottom level of the vat need not be more than four 
feet long, with an incline beginning there and run- 
ning gradually to the level and to a draining plat- 
form from which the drip should be collected and 
discharged into a vat again. A width at the bottom 
of 6 inches is ample, as only the feet go clear down 
and the less width the less liquor is required to 
charge the vat. In case there is genuine and seri- 
ous affection of scab, the sheep should be held 
rigidly in for two minutes, and in that time the head 
should be immersed briefly twice. If there is only 



106 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

suspected infection, however, and not yet any out- 
break, the slieep may be run tlirougli as rapidly as 
convenient, being only sure that each one is com- 
;^letely immersed in the liquor, for they will remain 
wet for 24 hours at least after emerging from the 
dip. In a practice of many years the writer has 
never had scab break out in a flock thoroughly 
dipped once by simply running the sheep through. 
There are other essential conditions to be observed, 
however, which will be mentioned now. 

The dip should be hot. This does not mean warm, 
nor boiling, but as hot as the operator can endure 
to plunge in his bare arm. It is better to test the 
temperature in this manner than by use of a ther- 
mometer. If the latter is used a temperature of 
110 deg. Fahrenheit will be about right, but the bare 
skin is the best thermometer. 

The water used must be softened or ''broke." 
To do this use ordinary concentrated lye, enough to 
make the water a little biting and give it an oily feel 
like soap. This is an inexpensive process. 

The dip, whatever it is, must be used of good 
strength. There are various good preparations in 
use, most of which are effective if used of sufficient 
strength. 

On the farm of the writer the coaltar prepara- 
tions are used almost always, because they prove 
effective and cheap, and are pleasant to operate 
with. They are healing to the skin and effectually 
dissipate any tendency to eye disease and are sure 
death to all forms of insect life whatever. These 



SELECTION AND MANAGEMENT 



107 




108 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

coaltar dips are given various names, as ''Zeno- 
leum," '^Naptholeum," ' ' Day tlioleum, " etc., and 
similar in composition and effect. The directions 
often say to nse them at a strength of 1 to 100 ; that 
is, of one part of dip to 100 parts of water. This is 
not safe in combating scab, and as the cost of dip- 
ping is mostly in labor, the writer always nses them 
at a strength of 1 to 40, and has had no failure 
to cure every sort of parasitism and has never in- 
jured a sheep by its use. 

In truth, one winter when scab broke out among 
some undipped sheep (that had been dipped in Chi- 
cago, but imperfectly) and the farm flock became 
infected, we dipped all in the middle of winter, turn- 
ing back to the old quarters, and cured each case 
effectually, so that there has never been a reappear- 
ance of the disease upon the farm. The dipping 
was repeated in ten days to give chance for eggs to 
hatch. 

This thorough dipping also eradicates ticks, which 
is no small matter. 

"While I use and like for the dipping of farm 
flocks the coaltar dips, I should mention that on the 
ranges where great numbers of sheep are treated 
the lime and sulphur dip is in common use. Lime 
and sulphur boiled together make a chemical com- 
pound very destructive to insect life. Many sheep- 
owners believe that nothing else is so effective as 
lime and sulphur. Assuredly it is effective, when 
rightly compounded, and it is cheap. I cannot rec- 
ommend the eastern farmer to bother with it; con- 



SELECTION AND MANAGEMENT 109 

siderable skill and care are needed rightly to 
prepare the bath. Briefly, the liquor is prepared 
by boiling 24 to 33 pounds of flowers of sulphur 
with 8 to 11 pounds of fresh quicklime in 25 to 30 
gallons of water, the boiling continued for at least 
two hours until the lime and sulphur have combined, 
and the resultant liquid has a chocolate or liver 
color. It is then diluted with warm water to make 
100 gallons and used hot. Full particulars can be 
found in Bulletin No. 21, on '^ Sheep Scab,'^ of the 
Bureau of Animal Industry, Washington, D. C. 

KEGULAR DIPPING OF THE FARM FLOCK. 

While new sheep added to the flock should be 
dipped whenever they arrive, barring exceedingly 
cold weather, the regular flock needs its annual bath, 
and this should be given immediately after shear- 
ing, when ewes and lambs may all be dipped at a 
nominal cost. It takes nearly a gallon of liquid to 
dip a yearling of medium size with its fleece on, but 
to dip a shorn sheep takes not more than a quart, 
and the little lamb a small amount. This annual 
cleaning up prevents ticks getting foothold and 
heads off a lot of other troubles, such as sore eyes 
and mouth, canker of teats, and sheep lice. 

It is not a troublesome operation to dip a flock of 
sheep. The water should be conveniently at hand 
and some means of heating it. An open kettle of 
30 to 40 gallons capacity will serve if nothing else 
is convenient ; red-hot irons may be thrown into the 
tank to heat what is left from a previous dipping; 



110 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

there should be a hirge pen to hokl the sheep and a 
small one close to the tank for a catching pen. Just 
at the end of the tank there may be an incline about 
3 feet long covered with smooth sheet metal, and 
this may be greased so that when a sheep steps on 
it or is lifted upon it, it will easily slide down into 
the plunge. 

A force of five men, two of whom keep the dip 
mixed and replenished, and three of whom put in 
and take out sheep, will readily dip 100 in an hour, 
though if they have their fleeces on they should 
drain for a longer time than would make this prac- 
ticable. It is not often necessary to assist the sheep 
to climb out, but there should be one man ready and 
watching with care to see that all are fully sub- 
merged and not stay in too long. The writer has 
never seen pregnant ewes abort their lambs after 
careful dipping, and has frequently dipped 500 
without killing or injuring one. 

The cheapest tank is made of galvanized iron. 
The best is made of concrete, which will endure for- 
ever if rightly made. 

SUMMARY OF DIPPING. 

Dip every sheep when it comes to the farm as 
soon as it is rested, especially with care when it 
may have come by rail. 

When scab infection is suspected, but none is vis- 
ible, dip once by simple and complete immersion in 
a dip hot and strong enough. 

When scab is already in evidence let the affected 



SELECTION AND MANAGEMENT 111 

sheep soak in tlie dip for two minutes, first liaving 
rubbed and loosened up the scabs. After ten days 
dip again; always turn freshly dipped sheep into 
their sheds so that they may rub their wet fleeces 
against the woodwork and disinfect that. 

Dip the whole flock every spring if there are ticks, 
immediately after shearing, being sure that no sheep 
or lamb escapes. 

After the flock is clean it will remain clean if 
newly bought sheep are dipped before being added 
to it. There is no necessity to dip a clean flock. 

At shearing time should the owner shear his own 
sheep and there be but two or three ticks to each 
animal, he should cut them in two with the shears 
and dip the lambs. 

It is useless to dip sheep that are clean of 
vermin, besides it may slightly injure the wool. 
I have seen whole neighborhoods in Michigan 
where now no one dips (once many did), and 
where yet there are no ticks. The reason is that 
these men having warm shelters shear before lamb- 
ing, often in March, and if there should be a few 
ticks, they can be cut off or, very likely, the sheep 
itself will pick them off before the lambs are born. 
To shear after lambing and without dipping is the 
surest way to breed ticks, since they take refuge on 
the lambs as soon as the ewes are shorn. 

There is no more need of having ticks on a sheep 
farm than there is of wolves. The wolves have 
largely been killed off in the older settled regions^ 
but it has required persistent and well organized 



112 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

wolf drives in some sections, to get rid of these var- 
mints. Industry and persistence will clean up the 
ticks. 

FALL TREATMENT OF THE EWE FLOCK. 

The ewes being brought presumably to new and 
fresh pastures and rid of their vermin, thrive ad- 
mirably. If grass is not abundant they ought to 
have a little extra feed at times, as it is Nature's 
way to make them gain. A field of rape in which 
they may run, alternating at their pleasure with 
grass, makes them improve rapidly. Pumpkins fed 
on grass, seeds and all, are excellent for the ewes. 
Not only are the pumpkins good feed, but their 
seeds, besides being nourishing, have in them great 
medicinal virtues. Pumpkin seeds are efficient ver- 
mifuges. One of the best treatments for tape worm 
in the human subject is the infusion of pumpkin 
seeds. Worms destroy more sheep than dogs do, 
and it must be the constant study of the shepherd 
to avoid them. 

The reason for desiring the flock to thrive at this 
time is that it is near the mating season, and if the 
sheep are in fine, thrifty condition, the ewes will 
the more rapidly conceive and drop a greater num- 
ber of twins. 

Yet another reason is that a sheep which starts 
into winter in good thrift comes through much 
stronger with less feed than one that starts in, in 
poor flesh. 

A handful of grain fed in October or November 
is worth a peck of feed to a thin ewe in January, 



SELECTION AND MANAGEMENT 113 

not that the flock shoukl be neglected later on, but it 
is essential that sheep should enter winter well for- 
tified and strong. 

MATING. 

Before the mating begins one should carefully go 
over his flock and assort the ewes. Ewe lambs must 
be taken out and none bred that are not past a year 
old. Old ewes that have lost their teeth and are 
evidently not quite able to go safely through the 
winter and nourish well their lambs, are better con- 
signed to the fattening pen. At least there should 
be a mark put upon them that will indicate their 
condition, so that they may be given extra care and 
attention. Quite often with such ewes it is most 
profitable to breed them and by careful feeding keep 
them as strong as you dare till lambing time, after 
this to give them a large allowance of grain, 
ground if need be, so as to push them with their 
lambs, and they will often make as good lambs as 
the other ewes and be themselves ready to follow 
their offspring to market a few weeks after the 
lambs have left them. A suitable mark for these 
culled ewes is to clip off the end of one ear. 

Yet another thing for which to search, is a spoiled 
udder or a ewe without perfect teats. Quite often 
such ewes are found, and to have them drop lambs 
without ability to suckle them is to entail great dis- 
appointment and trouble on the shepherd. 

There is a temptation to breed the young, imma- 
ture ewes, particularly if they are well grown, but 



114 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

it is wiser not to do this, as it leads to the stei>.dy 
decrease in size of yonr sheep, and by weakening 
the ewe's constitution because of the heavy drain 
upon her, you make her the more liable to attacks 
of parasites, those foes of the sheep and shepherd 
that never can be forgotten with safety. 

PUTTING IX THE EAM. 

The ewe carries her lamb from 142 to 150 days, 
or, roughly, iiye months. It is well to so time the 
putting in of the ram as to bring the lambs at the 
season when they will best fit in with your scheme 
of management. Much depends here upon the breed 
under consideration, for it is natural for the Dorset 
and the Merino to drop their lambs very early, so 
that they may be mated with the ram in September, 
when the lambs will come early in February; or if 
bred in August they will come in January; or in 
July to have them in December. With Shropshires 
it is unusual for lambs to appear so early as De- 
cember or January, though the middle of Septem- 
ber is an excellent time to mate them; with South- 
downs the same time will serve, though they natu- 
rally lamb later, and with Cotswolds and Lincolns 
it is unusual for lambs to be born before March or 
April. If the shepherd has good quarters for his 
flock he may as well try for some early lambs ; they 
will serve to occupy his time in winter, and coming 
then when he has leisure, he will lose but a small 
proportion of them. Winter lambs well nourished 
in infancy make much stronger and better sheep 



SELECTION AND MANAGEMENT 115 

tlian late lambs, as tliey go on to grass so big and 
lusty as to defy many of tlie evils that attack later 
lambs. 

MANAGEMENT OF THE EAM. 

Tlie ram during the summer days should have 
the run of a small lot with access to shade, with 
abundant food, yet not too much, and with company 
of other rams or of a few wethers, or some ram 
lambs or even a few ewes running with him. He 
should have careful attention that he remains in 
perfect health, especial care being taken not to put 
him on a piece of infected grass where he may de- 
velop parasites. Before the breeding season he 
should be entirely separated from the ewes, and if 
not in strong condition, given a regular feed of oats 
and bran or some similar feed twice a day, not 
enough to fatten him, but to put him in vigorous 
condition. 

It is wise not to ever turn him with the ewes, but 
better to bring them to him each morning early 
while it is yet cool, penning them in a small pen so 
that there is just room enough for him to move 
about readily among them, and where they cannot 
easily escape you when you desire to catch some of 
them. 

After the ewes are brought up, let him come in 
with them, and he will soon single out one that may 
be in heat. Allow him to serve her once only and 
immediately put her out, marking her at the same 
time so that you will know that she has been bred. 



116 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

It is wise to use a different color in marking each 
week, thus all the ewes that are bred the first week 
will be marked red, all the next week blue, the third 
week yellow, the fourth week black, the fifth week 
green, and so on. This marking is done with a 
brush and a daub of paint ; on the back of the head 
or on the shoulder is a good place. 

After the first ewe has been taken out, the ram 
will proceed quietly to search for another. Unless 
he is a very vigorous ram, it is unwise to allow him 
to serve more than four during a morning, and if a 
large number seem to be in heat, it will be well to 
get them up again after sunset in the evening. The 
ram has an exceedingly vigorous reproductive sys- 
tem, and has power to impregnate more females 
than most animals, even although his work is con- 
fined to a short period each year. 

The ewes that are served and put out should be 
put by themselves and not returned to the flock for 
three days, else they may be still in heat and re- 
ceive unnecessary attention from the male. One 
service will as surely impregnate as more and will 
beget stronger lambs. 

Managed in this way a ram will easily care for 
40 or 50 ewes and may serve 100 if he is unusually 
strong and vigorous and well cared for. He should 
be kept quiet all day, in a cool place, and well fed 
on stimulating food such as oats and bran with 
clover hay. 

One advantage of this way of managing ewes is 
that one will know those that do not take the ram 



SELECTION AND MANAGEMENT 117 

at all and can put them out of tlie flock ; and by giv- 
ing them a little extra feed, they will soon fatten, 
when they may be sold. 

There is a practice not very common among shep- 
herds of forcibly holding ewes that persistently 
reject the ram, and allowing him to serve them. 
They will not often conceive from this service, but 
it occasionally causes them to come in heat naturally 
in from ten days to three weeks. Some early lamb 
breeders make considerable use of this practice. It 
can do the ewe no harm in case it is unsuccessful. 

CARE OF THE PREGNANT EWE. 

Perhaps the greatest stumbling block in the way 
of the inexperienced shepherd is in the care of his 
ewe flock during pregnancy. Either he feeds them 
too well, or on unsuitable foods, or he deprives them 
of air and exercise, or he goes to the other extreme 
and lets them brave the storms without enough 
food. Either condition will surely be fatal to his 
fortune, though of the two extremes the worse is 
that of too much food and no exercise. Such a 
course is surely fatal to his hopes of a large crop of 
strong lambs. 

If one would have success with these pregnant 
ewes he should consider their condition in a state 
of nature. Then they roamed the hills, selecting 
the higher points as places to sleep; they sheltered 
beside rocks or under pines. They were not in 
large flocks and found sufficient food as they were 
not restrained by fences. They had abundant exer- 



118 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

cise and always fresh air. Doubtless when their 
lambs came they were very strong and vigorous, 
able soon to run beside their mothers. Under ranch 
conditions today lambs are born very strong, and 
it is rare to find one so weak as to be unable to 
suck without aid. 

The writer remembers vividly his first experience 
with lambing ewes. The first winter he let them 
have the run of a pasture, with shelter, fed clover 
and corn stover, and the result was a good lamb 
crop. A few of these lambs were so remarkably 
promising, one selling for $18 at weaning time, that 
he was encouraged to attempt to do much better the 
next year. That winter proved to be quite cold and 
stormy, so he kept them rather close. Having 
learned the value of wheat bran as a bone and mus- 
cle builder, he fed these ewes about all the bran they 
wanted, and they consumed a great deal, with clo- 
ver hay. 

The lamb crop came early, and the lambs were 
strong, being the product of hand coupling with a 
vigorous sire. The difficulty was in the enormous 
size of many of them, some being so large of bone 
that it was nearly impossible for them to be deliv- 
ered at all. One Shropshire weighed 17 pounds at 
birth ! Its mother died soon after its delivery, and 
the lamb itself was lost through unskillful feeding. 
The net result was a small crop of magnificent 
lambs secured at a cost of great labor and pains. 

The next year an old friend and shepherd coun- 
seled him to adopt a radically different policy. 



SELECTION AND MANAGEMENT 119 

This was to allow the flock to run in the pasture, 
sheltering in open sheds ^and under the trees, and 
subsisting solely on coarse forage such as corn 
stover and oat straw. Having in the barns a great 
number of lambs that were being fed for fattening, 
there was some excuse for neglecting the ewes. 

Unfortunately ewes in winter time because of 
their long fleeces, appear to be in good condition 
when they are not, and the writer had no idea how 
very thin in flesh these were becoming until lambs 
started to drop in April. Then his troubles began. 
The lambs came strong enough, as a rule, nor were 
they too large to be delivered easily ; but many ewes 
having been poorly nourished, had no milk, and 
would not own their lambs. The truth is that there 
is a direct connection between the milk glands of an 
animal and the part of the brain where lies love of 
offspring, and in the sheep at least it is rare to find 
mother love where there is no milk to go along 
with it. 

The result was that the writer was put to his 
wits' end to make the ewes own their lambs and to 
try good feeding to bring them to their milk flow. 
Many lambs were lost, and the whole result was 
disheartening. 

The simple truth is that pregnant ewes must have 
so far as possible natural conditions. They must 
have enough food, and that of a suitable nature 
properly to nourish the growing foetus 'without 
stimulating too much the development of bone. 
They must come to lambing in good heart, what the 



120 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

farmer would call '^fat," but not according to the 
butcher's standard. They must have abundant op- 
portunity to exercise and to get fresh air. Thus 
treated their lambs should come as strong as wild 
things and give little trouble. It is the natural 
thing for a lamb to be born strong, to live at birth, 
since all its ancestors have done the like since lambs 
were born into the world. 

There is danger in well-bred ewes highly fed upon 
such foods as wheat bran and clover or alfalfa hay 
that the lambs may have excessive bony develop- 
ment, and it is not now the practice of the writer to 
feed much bran before weaning, but to give instead 
bright, sweet corn stover and alfalfa hay. Too 
much alfalfa hay alone will sometimes make the 
lambs rather large at birth. If the coarse forage is 
not abundant and of excellent quality, the shepherd 
should feed a small daily allowance of grain. A 
mixture of corn and oats may be used, which should 
be fed in wide flat-bottomed troughs, so that the 
ewes cannot rapidly swallow it as they will wlien 
fed in V-shaped troughs. 

A run to a blue-grass pasture is an excellent 
thing, and if the grass is permitted to grow up in 
the fall and lie uneaten, no small part of the suste- 
nance of the flock will come from that. A shelter- 
ing bit of woodland, in which they may wander, 
affords shelter and amusement, and well repays the 
ground on which it stands. 

While the flock should be out of doors every fine 
winter's day, yet the shepherd should have his 



SELECTION AND MANAGEMENT 12lS 

charges in mind and see that each ewe comes to the 
barn before storms break, and always the flock 
should be shut in at night. Yet unless the weather 
is very severe they should have much fresh air in 
their night quarters — a large opening on the lee- 
ward side is the best provision. 

One can hardly emphasize the importance of 
keeping sheep dry in the fall, winter and spring. A 
sheep rarely has sense enough to come in out of the 
rain; not feeling the drops it will stand in the rain 
until wet through. A fleece will take up as much 
as 10 pounds of water. This must all be evaporated 
by the heat of the animal's body. One reason why 
sheep thrive so well in northern countries is that 
there is no rain falls in winter; the sheep are dry. 
If dry, very much less feed than would be required 
if they were wet from time to time will keep them 
comfortable ; in fact, no amount of feed can make a 
wet sheep thrive. For this reason I like to shear 
ewes early in the spring; when shorn they feel the 
falling rain and hurry to shelter, taking their lambs 
with them. If they had on their winter's coats they 
would stay out until the lambs were soaked, 



CHAPTER V. 
CAEE OF THE EWE AND YOUNG LAMB. 

THE EWE LAMB. 

A breeding ewe requires about 12 square feet of 
floor surface. There sliould be provided in the ewe 
barn movable feed racks, long and narrow, of such 
type that they will form partitions wherever need- 
ed. These racks are best made 24 inches wide, 36 
inches high, with a tight bottom about 6 inches up 
from the ground. The sides about this bottom may 
be of 6-inch boards, forming a shallow feed box. 
On this foundation will be nailed, vertically, slats i/o 
inch thick, 4 inches wide and 30 inches long. These 
slats may be placed 7 inches apart, so that the sheep 
can thrust their heads clear into the rack to feed. 
There will then be much less loss of feed than if the 
slats are placed close together, for in that case the 
ewes pull all the hay through the cracks and drop 
most of it under their feet. There will be a little 
dust get into the wool of the necks in feeding in 
such a rack, but it is a trifling damage compared with 
the loss of forage in any ''feed-saving" rack. 

After using many forms of racks, the writer now 
uses these in preference to any others, for in them 
may be fed grain, bran, silage or any sort of hay. 

(122) 



CARE OF THE EWE AND YOUNG LAMB 123 

The ewe barn must have provision for most amf)le 
ventilation. That is best accomplished by having 
on two sides clear across the barn a system of doors 
so arranged that they are divided in halves hori- 
zontally, the lower part of the door swinging as an 
ordinary gate swings, the upper half hinged at its 
upper edge and lifting up to a horizontal position, 
upheld by wooden props or pendant chains. 

By means of these upper doors the ventilation 
may be made so thorough that the air will be prac- 
tically as good within the barn as outside, or in cold 
weather one side may be completely closed and the 
other, to leeward, opened or in very cold weather 
all may be closed tight. 

It will be disastrous to confine the sheep in a poor- 
ly ventilated building. Loss of thrifty colds and 
catarrh will surely result. 

In England sheep are almost never confined to 
buildings at all. Their usual mild winters make out- 
door feeding practicable with them, whereas it is 
not so with us. We must feed in racks during the 
time that they are hurdling off turnips in winter and 
much of the loss of thrift and character of English 
sheep bred here is owing to unskillful wintering in 
poorly ventilated barns. During the winter sea- 
son the shepherd has opportunity to get well ac- 
quainted with his flock. He should learn to know 
each ewe by her countenance; and she should learn 
to know him and to know so' little of evil of him that 
he can approach any one and catch her without diffi- 
culty and without frightening her. A shepherd's 



124 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

crook that will catch her by the hind leg is useful in 
the sheepfold, though I prefer for ordinary use the 
old-fashioned crook that catches her by the neck. 
Any blacksmith can make in a few moments a crook 
of an old horse-rake tooth, set in a long wooden 
handle. It should be so shaped that it will with a 
little pressure slip over the neck of the ewe, widen- 
ing at the opening considerably to make it easy of 
use, and the end should be turned over in a little coil 
so that it cannot accidentally wound the skin. 

Before the lambs are due it is well to turn each 
ewe up on her rump, using her gently, and with 
shears clip the wool away from the udder; particu- 
larly the little locks that might be seized by the lamb 
when searching for the teat. 

Before the lambing season the shepherd should 
provide himself with some little panels, made of 
light wood, like doors, each panel 36" high and 48" 
long. Two of these panels should be hinged together 
at the ends so that they may be folded together and 
laid away or opened in the shape of the letter L. 
The use of these is to make little pens in which to 
place ewes about to lamb, or newly lambed, to pre- 
vent their lambs straying away and getting mixed 
through the flock. Thus many lambs will be saved 
that otherwise would be lost and much of the usual 
vexatious work of the shepherd avoided. To use 
these panels, one is opened at right angles in the 
corner of the lambing room and by aid of hooks 
fastened at the free ends to the wall, thus making a 
pen 4'x4'. As it is tight, the lamb cannot creep out, 



CARE OF THE EWE AND YOUNG LAMB 125 

and the ewe being unable to see will be more tran- 
quil. When there is need of another such pen it is 
set up alongside the first one and thus on until a 
row has been erected across the end of the building. 
If there be need, another row can join these. 

The observant shepherd can usually foretell the 
advent of a lamb, for the ewe shows by her appear- 
ance and her actions that she is expecting it. Be- 
cause of her instinct, indeed it is not unusual to see 
her hunting anxiously about for the lamb before 
it has been born at all ! It is wise to place her by 
herself before this event occurs, if it can convenient- 
ly be done. 

CARE AT LAMBING TIME. 

There should be small difficulty in the ewe's de- 
livery of her lamb if she has been rightly fed and 
treated. There will probably be no occasion for in- 
terference of the shepherd, yet he should be watch- 
ful, and when she has been in distress for some time 
without effect he should not hesitate to go to her 
assistance. The difficulty may be one of wrong 
presentation. Naturally the lamb comes with front 
feet first, and nose just between them. Even when 
the presentation is right the shepherd may be of 
great help sometimes, if the lamb is of large size, by 
gently manipulating the parts, pulling a little at the 
lamb and pushing the external parts of the ewe back 
until the head is free. Then the nose may be wiped 
so that the lamb can breathe and in a moment, after 
the ewe has again begun her labor, you may gently 



126 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

draw the lamb outward until the shoulders are de- 
livered—the hardest part. I usually leave her then, 
for the hips and hing legs come away readily, and 
the ewe generally gets up at once and seeks her 
lamb and proceeds to lick it and caress it with her 
tongue. It should soon try to stand and in about 15 
minutes will try to suck. If it finds the teat without 
aid you may call it half raised. 

Usually it is well to help the lamb to its first meal, 
especially if the ewe is young, and it is her first 
born. The easiest way to do this is to gently set 
her on her rump, as though you were going to shear 
her, kneeling down behind her and with her shoul- 
ders resting against you. First start the milk from 
her teats, then taking the lamb with the right hand 
(the left arm being under the ewe to support her), 
lay it down on its side and opening its mouth insert 
the teat, when it will usually begin immediately to 
suck. Let it get a pretty fair bellyful and its 
chances are bright for coming on in good, strong 
fashion. 

The shepherd should observe whether it after- 
ward goes to sucking on its own account, and if it 
does there need not be many slips between that lamb 
and a ten-dollar bill, if it is born right ! 

Supposing there is a wrong presentation. The 
shepherd is fortunate if he has a small hand, for it 
is his duty to help put things right. We cannot 
here give details of how this is to be done, but know- 
ing the natural presentation the shepherd should be 
able to study it out for himself. He must carefully 



CARE OF THE EWE AND YOUNG LAMB 



127 



grease his hand with lard or vaseline and avoid as 
far as possible any rough treatment or injury to 
the delicate parts. The writer has taken several 
lambs away with hind feet first without diffi- 
culty, but should the head be turned back it must 
be straightened before delivery is possible. 

There will be much more difficulty with young 




SOUTHDOWN EWES. 



ewes than with older ones, so that the inexperienced 
shepherd is wise if he begins with ewes most of 
which have lambed once or twice before they came 
to his care. 

In very cold weather the lambing barn should be 
made as comfortable as possible, without depriving 
it altogether of fresh air, and even then when twin 
lambs are born there may be need of assistance or 



128 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

one of them may perish before it is made dry and 
given milk to supply inward heat. It is an excellent 
plan to have at hand a tub or half barrel; a salt 
barrel sawed in two serves well and in this have a 
jug of hot water. The lamb may be laid in this tub 
and covered with a blanket until its mother can give 
it her attention. Or a chilled lamb, if only slightly 
chilled, may be warmed in this manner. An excel- 
lent plan and simpler if the shepherd is at hand 
when the first of twins is born is to lay it in a tub 
on two or three inches of wheat bran and cover it 
all but the nose with more bran. It will keep as 
warm as toast there and the bran will help absorb 
moisture. Then when it is given to the ewe she will 
lick off the adhering bran without injury to herself. 

Supposing that through some accident the new- 
born lamb has gotten thoroughly chilled; the best 
manner of warming it is by immersion in water as 
hot as one can bear his hand in. This will soon be- 
come cooled and more hot water should be added, 
taking care of course not to scald the lamb. When 
warm and revived it should be wiped dry and taken 
to its mother and held till it is filled with her milk. 
The writer has in this manner revived lambs seem- 
ingly dead. It is not wise to give cow's milk if that 
can be avoided, and if necessary the cow's milk 
should be diluted with some quite warm water. 
Some shepherds give a drop or two of whiskey to 
a chilled lamb and it may sometimes prove bene- 
ficial. 

The next day after the lamb is born the ewe 



CARE OF THE EWE AND YOUNG LAMB 129 

should be milked clean. The shepherd should then 
observe whether the lamb is taking all her milk, and 
if there is much surplus he should milk it out clean 
every day until such time as the lamb can use it. 
This is especially necessary with Dorset ewes, and 
some other breeds occasionally need attention. It is 
not well for the lamb to take in the first milk se- 
creted after being retained stagnant in the dam's 
udder for an undue length of time. Large milking 
ewes while troublesome raise the finest lambs and 
are most profitable in the end. 

Occasionally a young ewe will not own her lamb 
or an older ewe may neglect or disown hers. Gen- 
erally, if the lamb is put with her in a small pen 
and helped to get its rations for a few times she 
will own it. If she persists in her neglect she may 
have her head fastened into a pair of small stan- 
chions so that she can eat but not get awayTrom 
the lamb nor attack it, nor readily prevent its suck- 
ing. These stanchions may be made of two pieces 
of 1x4 pine driven into the earthen floor, and the 
tops held together by a short board nailed on. There 
is no cruelty about this practice and it is generally 
effective when persisted in for a few days. 

Occasionally there will be a ewe whose lamb will 
die and leave her with an udder filled with milk. 
This gives opportunity to change her to some twin 
lamb whose mother would be better for the relief. 
To accomplish this transference the best plan is to 
remove the skin of the dead lamb soon after its death 
and slip it over the living lamb. It may be pulled 



130 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

off as a stocking is removed and rubbed with a little 
salt to dry it and at once slipped onto the twin lamb 
with the feet thrust through the holes where the for- 
mer lamb 's legs were. Introduced now to the moth- 
er of the dead lamb, confined with her in a small 
pen, it is not often that she will refuse at once to 
own it. Ewes know their lambs entirely by scent, 
and thus the odor of the skin tells her that it is 
truly her own lamb that is with her. This skin may 
be taken off after a few days. 

It is not good shepherding to permit a ewe to be 
without a lamb sucking her when there are lambs 
enough to go around, and usually there will be so 
many twins among ewes of the mutton breeds that 
there are enough lambs for all and perhaps 25 to 
100 over. 

Occasionally a ewe will be found of so perverse 
a disposition or so undeveloped in udder or mal- 
formed that she will not raise a lamb at all. The 
cure for her is to cut off half of one ear, which is 
the ^' brand of Cain,'' and indicates that she is to 
go to the butcher as soon as fat. 

A man in the West once sold for one dollar a re- 
cipe for making ewes own lambs, either their own 
or some others. Having paid my dollar I can testify 
that there is merit in his plan, which is to care- 
fully wash the lamb, especially about the rump and 
tail and on top of the head, removing thus all trace 
of scent so far as possible. Next you are to catch 
the ewe and milk upon the head and rump of the 
lamb from her udder, rubbing it well over him, and 



CARE OF THE EWE AND YOUNG LAMB 131 

lastly to put a handful of milk on lier own nose and 
in lier mouth. Then hold the lamb to her side and 
when it is sucking permit her to smell of it. Often 
this will succeed, but if she has lambed some days 
previously the recourse to stanchions will be surer 
and less troublesome. ~^ ~~" 

FEEDING THE EWE AFTER LAMBING. 

If the ewe has been well nourished during preg- 
nancy she will come in with her lamb strong and 
has udder well filled. At once when the lamb is 
born she must be turned away from the flock, and 
if the shepherd would give her a trifle of care that 
she really needs then, he will keep her by herself 
or in a pen with other ewes in like condition for a 
few days. During this time she should be somewhat 
sparingly fed with grain, or it may even be best to 
give her none at all, depending upon her condition. 
It is unwise to force her early to a milk flow in ex- 
cess of what the lamb can consume. In a few days, 
however, she will need good food in generous 
amounts for the lamb will draw heavily upon her 
system for nourishment. Food alone cannot keep 
up her milk flow. If she is a large milker she will 
decline somewhat in condition, even when well fed, 
showing that her flesh also turns to milk. 

Bear always in mind two facts. Sheep are rumi- 
nating animals, accustomed by nature to eating 
bulky foods of moderate nutritive properties, and 
not accustomed to eating again. Next, sheep have 
delicate digestions, easily disturbed by improper 



132 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

feeding, excessive feeding or sudden changes in the 
amount of feed given. Therefore make no sudden 
changes and least of all never make a large addition 
of grain to her daily ration. In England ewes sel- 
dom taste grain at all, hut eat instead grass, hay and 
roots, mainly swede turnips. Here, where roots are 
not so easily grown and fed (excepting in Canada 
and northern America), more reliance is put upon 
grain, and with care in feeding it may take the place 
very well. 

A sensible treatment of the ewe that lambs in 
winter is to keep her mostly on clover or alfalfa 
hay until after the lamb comes. There will be no 
need to limit the amount of hay that she consumes 
after lambing and then when her lamb takes all her 
milk and wishes more, begin feeding her a little 
wheat bran. For a week bran will suffice, gradu- 
ally increasing the amount fed, then there may be 
added to it a little chopped corn or barley and a 
little later some oilmeal. A pound a day of this 
mixture will keep her in good milk flow and it must 
be gradually led up to for about ten days. 

About the right proportions of the mixture are 
100 pounds of wheat bran, 100 pounds of chopped 
corn and 20 pounds of oilmeal. This with clover or 
alfalfa hay will push her to a very heavy milk flow. 
If she is a large ewe she may consume more than a 
l^ound to advantage, as much as two pounds being- 
consumed by some large Dorset ewes belonging to 
the writer. 

If this feed is so gradually introduced to the ewe 



CARE OF THE EWE AND YOUNG LAMB 



133 



that her digestion is not disturbed nor her milk 
flow at first too much stimulated there is small dan- 
ger of overfeeding her, supposing that the lamb is 
to be pushed for early market. Her unselfish nature 
turns the feed quickly into milk and little of it goes 
to nourish her own body. 

It is much easier, however, to keep her in large 
milk flow if we provide succulent food at this time. 




LEICESTEK EWES IN NEBRASKA. 



Corn silage is easily provided and is as good for 
the ewe as for the cow. It should be made from 
well-matured corn so as to develop its sugar and 
prevent an excess of acid from forming. Some com- 
plaint has been made of the effect of corn silage 
upon sheep, but usually the trouble has been that 
the feeders have tried to make it the main part of 
the ration. It should always be fed in connection 



134 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

with good sound dry hay and some grain. As corn 
silage from well-matured corn has in it a good deal 
of grain when it is fed, the rest of the ration should 
be of wheat bran, oilmeal and clover or alfalfa hay. 
Since the foregoing paragraph was written there 
has been much use made of corn silage for breeding 
ewes and fattening lambs. Prof. W. C. Coffey of 
the Illinois Experiment Station has shown how 
silage may cheapen the gains made by lambs, and 
Profs. J. H. Skinner and W. W. Smith of the Pur- 
due (Indiana) station have fed silage to pregnant 
ewes, milking ewes and winter lambs. The con- 
clusions in each instance are that silage may well be 
made part of the winter ration. It seems to benefit 
the digestion and cheapen gains. It saves both 
grain and hay. Apparently it increases the weight 
of wool — in the Indiana experiment nearly 40/100 
of a pound per head (say 10 cents worth). On many 
farms silage is regularly fed to sheep, especially to 
fattening lambs. On Woodland Farm it was fed for 
a series of years with profit. Our practice was to 
make the silage from well-matured corn which fa- 
vors a sweet silage, to feed no more than 1% to 2 
pounds per head per day, and to feed it in connec- 
tion with good alfalfa hay and corn. One year, 
however, nature took a hand in the game and sent 
a frost that killed the corn before it was mature. 
We filled the silos with this frosted corn, pretty 
sappy in stalk, and the result was sour silage in 
the bottom of the silo. When we had fed the lambs 
nearly through the winter, with little loss and all 



CARE OF THE EWE AND YOUNG LAMB 135 

looking well, there suddenly appeared an epidemic 
of disease due to ''forage poisoning," and we lost 
I think about 60 head of fine, fat lambs, nearly 
ready for the market. I have known other cases of 
injury from silage feeding, though few of such 
wholesale losses (60 out of 1,400 in 10 days). The 
symptoms of forage poisoning resulting from feed- 
ing silage are a staggering gait, lack of desire to 
eat, trembling of the body, finally a twisting or 
curving of the body, stiffening of joints and muscles, 
then death. We found no remedy, nor did any of 
the affected lambs recover. The lesson seems to be 
to feed only good sound sweet silage, never in ex- 
cessive amounts (1% pounds per day is enough for 
a 70-pound lamb, and 2 pounds is the limit for a 
mature ewe, if safety is desired), and to feed for 
not too long a time. I have known ewe flocks win- 
tered on silage alone go to complete ruin in the 
spring. I should never feed any sour or moldy 
silage to sheep. 

In the northern part of the United States, along 
the great lakes, in Michigan, Wisconsin and north- 
ern Minnesota, besides northern New York and New 
England and in all of Canada (besides Oregon, 
Washington and British Columbia) roots form a 
very important part of the ewe 's ration. Eoots have, 
indeed, almost created the English breeds of mut- 
ton sheep. They are safer to feed than silage and 
better. In England it is customary to grow turnips, 
mostly swedes, which are seldom pulled but are 
consumed on the ground on which they grow, being 



136 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

enclosed by hurdles and eaten off a block at a time. 
In very wet or bad weather some are pulled and 
carried to the sheep, being fed on grass or in open 
sheds. 

The use of roots is productive of great good to 
the ewe flock. They are succulent and start a nat- 
ural milk flow, whereas grain naturally goes more 
to producing flesh and fat. There is no danger of 
the ewes consuming too many roots. They push her 
easily and naturally to a strong flow of milk that 
has very healthful properties. Ewes highly fed on 
grain often give milk that is injurious to their lambs. 
Of this there is no danger when roots are substituted 
in large part for the grain. 

The shepherd who can readily grow roots has a 
distinct advantage over the one who relies upon 
dry hay and grain for wintering his ewe flock. Most 
of the best-developed sheep, the ones seen at our 
fall shows, come from root-growing regions. Un- 
happily turnips are not very easily grown in the 
cornbelt and below, though mangels will thrive well 
to the southward. 

In England and Canada swede turnips form the 
bulk of the roots grown for sheep. They should be 
sown on productive soil, well prepared. The time 
of sowing varies with climates, but usually early in 
July the seed should go into the ground. It is well 
to have the land ridged nicely and to sow the seed 
on the top of the ridge, which makes much easier 
hoeing and thinning or ' ^ singling. ' ' In dry climates 
of course ridging must be attempted with caution 



CARE OF THE EWE AND YOUNG LAMB 137 

not to get the ridges sharp and tall. Mangels are 
more productive than swedes but are not so rich 
and are unsafe to feed to rams. Carrots are more 
trouble to grow than either but are the best when 
grown. 

Many distressing troubles come from sudden in- 
crease in the grain ration of the ewe after lamb- 
ing. It is a very inducing cause of garget, or it 
may stop the flow of milk altogether, or it may cause 
founder, stiffness of joints and great lameness. 

TROUBLES OF YOUNG LAMBHOOD. 

The lamb has his trials and dangers too. Sup- 
posing that he gets accidentally shut away from his 
mother for some hours, until he is very empty and 
she very full of milk, if then he gets sudden access 
to her he will usually die from the overburden of 
milk taken in. When the shepherd discovers that 
ewe and lamb have been separated for several hours 
he should catch the ewe and milk her nearly clean 
before allowing them to come together. 

Then there are contagious sore eyes. These are 
caused by a germ. There are probably several kinds 
of germs that do the mischief, and the result is an 
inflammation and weeping of the eye with conse- 
quent distress and lack of thrift. The cure is for- 
tunately easy. Taking some one of the coaltar 
dips, and diluting with water nearly as much as for 
killing scab, the head should be well wet and care 
taken that some of the fluid actually reaches the eye. 
It may be painful for a moment, but it works a 



138 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

speedy cure. The writer lias repeatedly cured this 
trouble by dropping a tiny drop of the pure dip, un- 
diluted, into the open eye of a lamb. Tears start 
vigorously and dissolve it while the eyelid wink- 
ing vigorously carries it to every part. The cheeks 
should be saturated also with dip, properly diluted. 

SOEE MOUTH AND TEATS. 

Quite often a contagious form of sore mouth af- 
fects young lambs and the sores are seen also upon 
the teats and udders of the ewes. These sores form 
scabs along the edges of the lips and pustules upon 
the teats. Often they become so troublesome as 
to cause the death of the lamb, more usually simply 
interfering with its thrift so much as to sometimes 
make it profitless. The writer has found this dis- 
ease, which sheep writers usually spend so much 
time in describing and discussing, of the easiest pos- 
sible control. Assuming that it is of germ origin, 
to rub off the scabs and wash the lips with strong 
solution of coaltar dip and to treat the udders in 
the same manner has with the author in every case 
served to effect a radical cure. Quite often this dis- 
ease breaks out upon the mouths of western range 
lambs upon their arrival at an eastern farm for 
feeding. The treatment is to rub off the scabs and 
apply the undiluted dip to the fresh surface. In 
recommending these coaltar dips the writer means 
such preparations as are usually named ''Zeno- 
leum,'' ^^Naptholeum," ''Milk Oil,'' etc. They are 
much alike, really impure coaltar creosote, and most 



CARE OF THE EWE AND YOUNG LAMB 139 

effectual destroyers of germ life, and when used 
with discretion are among the best friends of the 
shepherd. 

FEEDING THE LAMBS. 

Lambs early develop a hunger for solid food and 
begin nibbling at hay and sampling ground feed or 
whatever is at hand. At the age of ten days they 
will begin seriously to eat ground feed. Advantage 
of this should be taken and the lamb encouraged to 
eat as early and as much as possible. During the 
early life of an animal nutrition is more perfect than 
later and the cost of producing growth is much less. 
Digestion is more perfect, the young animal can 
consume more in proportion to its weight and it is 
more perfectly assimilated. A pound of flesh on 
the baby lamb can therefore be made at a much less 
cost than after he is older. Seeing that the young 
mutton commands by far the higher price it is plain 
that the earlier weight is put on the better so far 
as profit is concerned 

The practice in England is to have in the hurdles 
in which the flock is usually confined, ''creeps" or 
openings wide enough to let the lambs slip through 
while restraining the ewes. These creeps usually 
have small rollers at the sides so that the lambs as 
they grow and nearly fill the opening may squeeze 
through without injury to themselves or loosening 
of their wool. Thus the lambs ''run forward" to 
an enclosure of their own where they find fresli 
grazing of turnips or vetch or clover or grass, ac- 



140 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

cording to the situation and season, and in these 
small enclosures are kept troughs replenished regu- 
larly twice a day with some grain mixture. English 
feeders use great amounts of ^'cake/' which is 
either of linseed or cottonseed. This cake is made 
at American oil mills where by pressure oil is ex- 
tracted from the crushed seed. American feeders 
usually buy ^ ^ oilmeal, ' ' or ground cake, whereas our 
British cousins prefer to buy the actual cakes and 
break them on the farm into bits as large perhaps as 
hickory nuts, or somewhat smaller for young lambs. 
English lambs come from the hurdles at the age of 
three or four months weighing 20 to 100 pounds. 
They will do as well in America, under right man- 
agement, as the writer has frequently demonstrated 
in his own practice. The fact is that one must keep 
the ewes in any case and must feed them, so that 
there is a certain fixed expense connected with rear- 
ing the lambs. This expense produces a certain 
amount of growth ; now by the addition of supple- 
mentary foods this growth may be greatly increased 
at very slight expense. The amount of extra food 
consumed by the young lamb to make an extra pound 
of growth will not cost more than one or two cents. 
To make a pound of growth on him after he has 
left his mother will cost from 3% to 7 cents. Then 
too, the early growth is what brings the highest 
price. And again the lamb that matures very early 
and gets away to market escapes a hundred ills that 
lie in wait for the lamb that remains on the farm 
for nearly a year ; so, altogether, the arguments are 



CARE OF THE EWE AND YOUNG LAMB 



141 



all for pushing the farm-born lambs as rapidly as 
possible by extra allowances of feed. 

Of course lambs that are pure-bred and intended 
to stay on the farm to maturity must be fed a dif- 
ferent ration from those that are merely to get fat 
quick and end a short but happy and victorious life 




"MARY HAD FIVE LITTLE LAMBS." 

at the market. Stock lambs need abundant food 
but no forcing. Their ration aside from their moth- 
ers ' milk should be of oats and bran, with a trifle 
of oilmeal, clover and alfalfa hay, and in their 
ground feed there may be added a little fine ground 
bonemeal. Bonemeal is made especially for animal 
feeding, clean and pure. There is small danger of 



142 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

overfeeding these stock lambs in their infancy ; they 
will the earlier go afield and learn there to seek their 
subsistence in the form of grass and herbage. Corn 
should not be fed to them, neither to the ewe lambs 
nor the ram lambs, for corn mainly makes fat and 
fat impedes vital functions rather than helps. The 
ram lambs developed on corn are slow, sluggish, 
early losing their usefulness ; the ewes developed on 
corn are uncertain breeders and often poor milkers. 
To develop bone and muscle and stamina in these 
stock lambs should be the aim and this is accom- 
plished by feeding food rich in bone and muscle- 
making materials, of which wheat bran is easily 
among the first and oats comes next. They should 
have abundant chance of exercise too, which may be 
denied somewhat to the lambs that are to go fat to 
an early market. Then there should be constant 
watchfulness to avoid infection from parasites and 
if this is done the shepherd will have splendid 
growthy stock lambs. 

FEEDING FOE THE MAEKET. 

Supposing now the lamb crop is mostly to go fat 
to market as soon as ripe. We will assume that 
they have been born in winter, which is the proper 
season for all lambs to be born on farms, unless one 
can get them in the fall, and that they have comfort- 
able quarters and their mothers have been so well 
fed that they have an abundance of milk for them. 
Next there must be provided a small room or pen 
in which the lambs can go and the ewes can not. 



CARE OF THE EWE AND YOUNG LAMB 



143 



This place must be of very convenient access, so 
that it is really easier for the lamb to go in than to 
remain ontside. This is because lambs have fleet- 
ing memories and are largely the creatures of op- 
portunity. They will consume much more feed when 
it is right at their mouths than if they have to go 
even a few rods to seek it. This place, which we 




AX ENGLISH CREEP. 



call a creep, must be in a light part of the barn, 
and if the sun can shine in all the better, for lambs 
are attracted by sunlight and greatly benefited by 
it. In truth some of the most successful lamb grow- 
ers have glass-roofed sheds for their use in winter 
and achieve thereby remarkable results. 

This creep need not be very large. If it is 12 feet 



144 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

square it will accommodate 50 lambs very nicely, as 
they will not all be in it at one time. It should be 
separated from the ewes' part of the barn by a 
fence of vertical slats, spaced about 8 inches apart, 
the slats with rounded edges. This will permit the 
lambs to pass in and restrain the ewes. After a 
time the lambs will need some wider openings and 
then if small rollers are put in to permit them to 
squeeze between all the better. 

In the creep there must be some flat-bottomed 
troughs in which to feed grain and a hay rack for 
alfalfa hay, or clover if that is the best at hand. The 
troughs must be low to permit young lambs readily 
to reach them. As lambs delight to get their feet 
into troughs they must be covered. To accomplish 
this let the end of the trough be a solid board 12 
inches wide and extending up 12 inches above the 
sides of the trough, pointed at the end like the gable 
of a house roof, and put on this two boards like an 
inverted V. This makes a steep roof to the trough 
and effectually prevents the lambs getting their feet 
into it. 

This cover is readily lifted off when grain is put 
in. Attention to such small details as keeping 
troughs clean is essential to success in feeding lambs. 
Their sense of smell is acute and they discriminate 
sharply against anything but clean, fresh food. 

The first feed to put into the trough may be wheat 
bran. Scatter a trifle in the bottom and sprinkle it 
with brown sugar. If the lambs do not find it read- 
ily, take one up gently, not to frighten him, and 



CARE OF THE EWE AND YOUNG LAMB 



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146 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

carrying him to the trough put a little of the sweet- 
ened bran in his mouth. He will get the taste and in 
many cases you can carefully put him on his feet 
with his head in the trough leaving him there. Once 
he gets a taste he will return and bring others with 
him. 

It is essential that the bran used be fresh. Add 
cracked corn to the bran; it also must be fresh and 
made of good, sound corn. It need not be cracked 
very fine. Better mix in a box or bin about 50 
pounds of cracked corn, 50 pounds of wheat bran 
and 10 pounds of oilmeal, coarse ground. If oats are 
available they may be added to this ration, ground 
at first, without changing the proportions of other 
things, for oats themselves form nearly a balanced 
ration. 

Feed this twice or three times a day, placing in 
the troughs about what will be consumed and when 
next feeding time comes sweep out and give to the 
ewes what may be left so as to always have fresh 
feed before the lambs. Never wait for them to lick 
out the last particle before offering them fresh food. 

You will soon be astonished at the amount the 
little fellows will consume and at the transforma- 
tion in their appearance. The plump roundness of 
the baby forms is very beautiful and to watch them 
grow is a satisfaction and joy every day. 

Of course there are other things that may be fed. 
Wheat middlings may make a small part of the ra- 
tion; it is too floury for best results, as the lambs 
do not like it so well. Eye will serve a useful pur- 



CARE OF THE EWE AND YOUNG LAMB 147 

pose, tliougli it seems less palatable than oats or bar- 
ley. Soybeans may replace the oilmeal and are bet- 
ter. Soys are readily grown upon any farm and 
should be regularly sown where lambs are grown. 

In the northern states early varieties of soybeans 
should be grown, threshed when ripe and the seeds 
kept for the lambs. The bean straw also if kept dry 
has in it a good deal of nourishment which the ewes 
will seek out and the coarser parts will serve as an 
excellent bedding. 

There is hardly any other food that will push for- 
ward lambs like soys. They have abundant protein 
and a good deal of bone material also. As compared 
with ordinary field peas they have 29 to 40 per cent 
of protein, while field peas have 16 per cent and 
cowpeas 18 per cent. Field peas are best adapted to 
New England, Canada and Michigan, with some re- 
gions of high altitude in the Rocky Mountains ; soy- 
beans to all the cornbelt. As the oilmeals are stead- 
ily increasing in price with possibilities of their fre- 
quent adulteration the shepherd cannot afford to 
overlook sources of home-grown protein. 

In the southern states the hairy vetch is a source 
of home-grown protein not to be overlooked. Further 
reference to this will be made when we take up the 
subject of field crops for sheep. 

The lamb will drink a good deal of pure water, 
even while sucking his mother. It should be readil^^ 
available and always clean enough for human con- 
sumption. 

After the lambs are well started on feed, the ewe 



148 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

lambs if tliey are designed to be kept upon tlie farm, 
and siicli ram lambs as may be worth keeping, 
should be separated from the others and fed differ- 
ently. They may have all the oats and bran they 
wish and some soybeans, but are the better for hav- 
ing very little corn. It is best if they have the run 
with their mothers of a field and learn early to seek 
part of their food outside, whereas the ones destined 
for market will grow as well and fatten quicker to 
have their range much restricted. 

The shepherd should keep close watch on the ewes, 
for there will come a time when they are no longer 
milking freely and then they will put their food on 
their backs. Eather than fatten them to their harm, 
unless they are to go to market, the grain should be 
gradually cut down and it will be found that the 
lambs at this time will take more each day. 

When the fattening lambs are a few weeks old 
they love to shell off corn from the ear and crack it 
with their own teeth. They should have opportunity 
to do this. 

In fact, when they are six weeks old it is hardly 
worth while to shell or grind any more corn for 
them. They prefer it fresh shelled by their own 
teeth. It is folly to spend time in doing things that 
the lambs delight in doing for themselves. 

DEESSIXG LAMBS EOK FANCY WINTER MARKET. 

When the lambs reach a weight of 50 to 60 pounds 
or even less if they, are very fat the fancy New York 
market will pay for them from $3 to $12 each if sent 



CARE OF THE EWE AND YOUNG LAMB 149 

there by express nicely dressed and cooled. Tlie 
prices depend upon liow fat they are and what the 
season is. Big lambs, only moderately fat, sell much 
cheaper than small lambs that are very fat. 

For this trade the lambs are dressed in a special 
manner as the market requires. Mr. H. P. Miller, 
a successful ^'hothouse" lamb grower, gives this 
as his method: ^'It is very important to have them 
thoroughly bled out. To secure this I have found it 
in killing advantageous to hang the lamb by the 
hind feet. Suspend a small singletree about six feet 




ItEADY FOR MARKET. 



from the ground. Loop a small rope or strong twine 
about each hind leg and attach to the hooks of the 
singletree. With a sharp-pointed knife sever the 
artery and vein in the neck close to the head. Be 
sure to sever the artery. Bright red blood is the 
assurance. The veinous blood is dark. Severing the 
head with one blow of a sliarp broad axe would cause 
no suffering and insure thorough bleeding. I re- 
move the liead with a knife as soon as the lamb 
ceases struggling. Clip the wool from the brisket 
and along a strip four or five inches wide upwards 
to the udder or scrotum, also from between the hind 



150 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

legs as in tagging slieep. Now open the lamb from 
the tail to the brisket. Slit the skin up the inside of 
tlie hind-quarter about four inches and loosen it 
from the underlying muscles for two inches on 
either side of the openings for the attachment of 
caul fat. This should be removed from the stom- 
achs before they are detached, and in very cold 
weather placed in warm water until ready to be 
used. Next remove the stomachs and intestines. In 
the early part of the season the liver, heart and 
lungs may be left in place but when the weather gets 
warm they must be removed. Carefully spread the 
caul fat over all the exposed flesh. Good large tooth- 
picks will hold it in place. Make small slits in it over 
the kidneys and pull them through. This part of 
the work requires care and skill to make the carcass 
look attractive. 

^'Be sure that all is clean and pretty. Hang in a 
cool place for 12 to 24 hours. The carcasses should 
not actually freeze but come close to it. Sew a yard 
of clean muslin about each lamb so as to cover all 
exposed surface. Then line a small crate with strong 
paper and place three lambs in it, tacking burlap 
over the top. Crate them just before shipping. Ice 
may be put between the lambs but not in them. Pre- 
pare for market as fast as ready, three or six at a 
time. Aim to slaughter regularly each week, if you 
have lambs in condition, and keep your commission 
firm informed as to how many you will send.'' 

It is worth noting that for a period of years prices 
for these fancy fat winter lambs have steadily ad- 



CARE OF THE EWE AND YOUNG LAMB 151 

vanced and the supply tliougii increasing lias not 
been equal to the demand: There is, however, a wide 
variation in prices obtained and if one finds his 
lambs selling- at a low price he had better investi- 
gate to see what is wrong. It is better to keep the 
lambs to sell alive in spring than dress them and pay 
express charges and commissions for $3 to $4 each 
in winter. During January and February, however, 
good lambs, such as any careful man can as easily 
make as any other sort, sell for from $8 to $15 each 
in New York with small prospect of oversupply for 
some time. 

TREATMENT OF THE LATE-BORN LAMBS. 

Naturally the larger part of the lambs will be 
born too late for the fancy trade. Nor would there 
be demand for all of them in the form of ' ' fancy hot- 
house lambs." There is, however, abundant profit 
in fattening them to be sold afoot in April, May, 
June or July. Usually the highest prices are ob- 
tained in June. At that time the supply of fat lambs 
born on the ranges the previous summer and win- 
ter-fed is about exhausted and the supply of fat 
native winter or spring-born lambs has never yet 
been adequate. 

To develop lambs for this live trade they should 
be fed just as advised for the winter lambs except 
that they should be permitted to take more exercise 
than when they are to be finished at the earliest pos- 
sible moment. 

When grass comes the lambs should be kept off 



152 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

of it until it is actually sweet. The sun must have 
time to get into it before it will be strong and good ; 
and to eat it before that time is a damage alike to 
the grass and the lambs. Furthermore after they 
have a taste of green grass they will not eat dry 
forage well, so there is loss all around. Keep them 
on dry feed therefore until there is abundant green 
grass and it is sweet, then you may let them go to it 
without fear of them shrinking. One of the com- 
monest mistakes in American stock farming is turn- 
ing onto pastures too early in the spring. 

There is little danger of scouring from eating 
grass after it has become sweet. The corn, of which 
they are now eating a great deal, has a tendency to 
prevent it and after a day or two they will go on as 
though nothing had been changed, happy indeed be- 
3^ond words in the fresh spring sunshine and fine 
pasture, before flies have come or summer heat to 
oppress. 

Here is a great argument for having lambs born 
in winter, they may thus get such a vigorous start 
that when green grass comes they are able to make 
the most of it. There are two months in our trying 
climate of the cornbelt that make ideal natural con- 
ditions for making mutton cheaply; they are May 
and June, with sometimes a bit of April. Wherefore 
the shepherd should plan to have his lambs big and 
strong when this time comes so that they may make 
the most of their opportunities. There is less profit 
as a general thing in carrying any over through July, 
August and September, save those that are destined 



CARE OF THE EWE AND YOUNG LAMB 



153 




154 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

to remain and permanently to replenish the breed- 
ing flock. 

FEEDING CORN ON GRASS. 

While in winter time on dry feed it is essential 
to feed bran, oilmeal or soybeans to supply the 
requisite protein to the growing lambs, there is not 
so much need of supplying protein when on grass, 
that is, if the lambs are destined for the butcher. 
Green grass is more nitrogenous than dry hay and 
there are many clovers usually mixed in the grass 
so that a ration of corn (maize) alone will serve a 
good purpose. This may as well be fed in the ear, 
laying it in troughs ; or if there is a clean sward of 
thick grass the ears may simply be scattered about 
upon it, in a fresh spot each day. To do this before 
the lambs are weaned it is of course necessary to 
fence off a part of the pasture away from the ewes, 
allowing only the lambs to have access to it. No 
more corn should ever be fed at a time than they 
will consume and that they may eat it regularly care 
should be taken to see that every lamb is there at 
feeding time. If troughs are set close by, in which 
a few hanclfuls of oats are strewn for the ewes, the 
shepherd can readily call the whole flock up at feed- 
ing time and the lambs will rush through their creeps 
to get to their corn while the mothers are munch- 
ing the sparing allowance doled out to them. 

Gains on grass when lambs have had a good start 
in winter are surprisingly rapid. By the first of 
June the February lambs will often weigh 80 pounds, 



CARE OF THE EWE AND YOUNG LAMB 155 

and drafts may be made and sent away if it is con- 
venient to market in that manner, or all may be 
kept till they average about 80 pounds, which will 
be early in June. If carefully managed there will 
be no culls and all will be gone and the cash in the 
owner's pocket before comes the dread parasites. 

Salt is essential to the sheep and it is well to ac- 
custom them to the use of it and keep it before them 
at all times. It is especially useful in spring when 
grass comes, and no doubt when they have access to 
it checks many bowel troubles. 

SUMMER SHADE. 

Shade is essential in our climate of the cornbelt. 
Even in April sheep will begin to seek the shade 
during the warmer parts of the day and by May and 
June it is very necessary. Where the pasture is near 
the barn the cool, dark lower story, where were the 
winter quarters, is an ideal place for the flock. It 
should be kept well bedded down and thus there is 
saved a good deal of fertility that would otherwise 
perhaps be heaped up in fence corners or beneath 
trees where it would do the pasture little good. The 
sheep prefer the darkness of the barn to the semi- 
shadow of trees and it is very much better and safer 
for them for reasons that we will presently take up 
under the subject of parasite infestation. 

In this barn basement one should each day put 
down a little fresh hay and usually the flock will 
eat quite a bit of it. In connection with their green 
forage it is to them what dry bread and butter are to 



156 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

the boy eating green apples in summer time. It is 
a good practice even to salt the sheep in summer by 
sprinkling brine over dry hay in the barn, thus en- 
couraging them to eat as much of it as they will. 
Of course there are locations where hay is hard to 
get and pasture is in excess. There this would not 
be good practice, but all through this region of the 
cornbelt hay is abundant and often more economical 
to produce on high-priced land than pasture. 

Corn also may be fed to the lambs in the barn 
basement if the flock has access to it. There is but 
one thing to fear; that the place may be allowed to 
become foul so that fleeces will be soiled and feet en^ 
dangered, and it is attention to these little things 
that assures success. 

Shade in fields may be had best by movable sheds. 
These may be made on runners, simple roofs about 
16 feet square and not high, open at the sides, made 
of pine boards. They need not be rain-proof since 
sun is what we are seeking to shelter against. A 
shed of this size will shelter 40 sheep and as it may 
be frequently moved there will be an enrichment of 
a good many spots during the summer. The writer 
has on the farm on which he lives a spot where his 
father forty years before had a temporary sheep 
shelter that still produces crops remarkable for their 
distinguishing greenness and rankness. 

There are reasons why we should not permit the 
sheep to stand where they will, along fences and be- 
neath trees. First the manure is wasted there ; then 
the shade is seldom really satisfactory. Sufficient in 



CARE OF THE EWE AND YOUNG LAMB 



157 



the early morning the sun has ])y noon moved so 
th.at it is no longer comfortable and the silly flock 
will suffer much before moving away. Worst of all 
is the danger to the health of the sheep through 
parasitic infection. Lying much in one place there 




A CARLOAD OF YEARLING WETHERS. 

is an accumulation of droppings presumably bear- 
ing germs of various harmful parasites such as 
stomach worms, throat worms, nodular disease and 
the like. The droppings stimulate the growth of 
sweet, rich grasses here. The germs harbor on the 



158 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

roots and about the base of these grasses. Lambs 
lying in shade nearby become hungry, and venturing 
into the sun a little way nibble at these rich grasses. 
It is worth noting that sheep will the more greedily 
eat grass that grows strong, from manured land, 
than that which is thin and tough growing on poor 
soil. The lambs then nibbling this thick grass, which 
is thus kept short, take in many germs of stomach 
worms and other parasites which their mothers have 
deposited there with their manure. Thus disease 
creeps into the flock. In England the writer has 
seen shepherds putting fences of hurdles about trees 
to prevent ewes lying beneath them when on grass, 
and explaining that they found when the ewes laid 
in the shade of those trees '^they took cold from the 
draughts and coughed." The facts were correctly 
observed but the reasoning was defective ; it was not 
the ^^ draught" that made the sheep cough but the 
throat worms and lung worms instead that gained 
entrance from the infected grass of the tree 's shade. 

MAEKETING THE SPKING LAMB. 

Through Virginia and Kentucky there are many 
sheep breeders who make a practice of growing their 
lambs on grass alone, having them born usually in 
March and putting them off fat in June. They usu- 
ally contract them ahead for about $6 per cwt. They 
find this business very profitable and thus their 
rough lands devoted to sheep pastures steadily im- 
prove rather than deteriorate. 

It is a temptation to the young shepherd to keep 



CARE OF THE EWE AND YOUNG LAMB 159 

the lambs over till fall or perhaps to feed them again 
the following winter. This seldom pays so well as to 
have them fat early and get rid of them at a good 
price. When they come to market as late as Au- 
gust and from then to Christmas they must compete 
with lambs grown on the ranges under much more 
favorable conditions for cheap production. More- 
over, the lambs during the hot summers of the corn- 
belt do not gain much fat ; if in fact they hold what 
they made in May and June they do well and there 
is besides that terrible danger — the parasite. 

DOCKIXG. 

Unless one is certain that his lambs will go early 
to market, say at an age not exceeding three months, 
he had better dock and castrate them. Tails are un- 
necessary appendages to a modern sheep and are apt 
to become fouled. A docked lamb has a squarer 
look and seems fatter than one with a tail. What 
blood goes to nourish the useless tail would add to 
the growth of the rest of the body no doubt. Dock- 
ing may be done at a very early age, within ten days 
after birth if the lamb is strong, and there is then 
slight shock. Tails may be severed with one stroke 
of a sharp knife (cutting from the under side), or 
by use of a mallet and chisel, but a better and safer 
way when pure-bred and well-fed lambs are docked 
is by use of hot docking pinchers. These are readily 
made by the country blacksmith. They are shaped 
like large shoeing pinchers, only much heavier and 
with a wider opening to admit any tail, for some- 



160 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

times one will wish to dock a mature sheep or cut 
off a scrotum from an old ram. They should be thin 
at the edge but not very sharp, and thick back of it 
to hold the heat. The manner of operation is to 
have a board with a hole bored through it of a 
proper size to admit the tail of the lamb. This board 
protects the adjacent parts against the heat of the 
pinchers. They are heated to redness and quickly 
sever the tail which will not bleed a drop. Some 
disinfectant is then applied and the lamb let go. 
After flies come one must watch that the stumps do 
not become infested with maggots ; there is no other 
danger. Pure-bred and well-fed lambs will some- 
times bleed to death when their tails are cut with 
knife or chisel. When no docking pinchers are at 
hand the stumps may be corded for a few hours. 

CASTRATION OF OLD KAMS. 

These docking pinchers are convenient things to 
have for castration of old rams, or of any sheep 
past the age of lambhood. The method is to lay the 
ram on his back; one man seizes the scrotum and 
testicles and pulls them out from the body and an- 
other simply severs them all together with the dock- 
ing pinchers used very hot. Protect the belly against 
the heat by using a board with slit in it. 

There is no bleeding, though the operation should 
not be too hastily performed, as there is need of a 
moment's contact with the hot iron to sear the arte- 
ries. The application of disinfectants completes the 
operation. A thin board may keep the heat from 



CARE OF THE EWE AND YOUNG LAMB 161 

scorching tlie body. The writer has thus operated 
on a six-year-okl ram and had him get up and go to 
eating hay quite unconcerned. It is probable that 
the hot iron destroys the sensibility to pain to quite 
an extent. 

CASTRATION OF LAMBS. 

Castration of young lambs is a very simple 
process. The lambs should be two weeks old and 
strong. The end of the scrotum is cut off, the tes- 
ticles made to emerge and are then pulled out with 
the adhering cords. Some shepherds practice seiz- 
ing them with their teeth ; this is a common practice 
on many western ranches. It is not usually neces- 
sary to apply anything in case of these young lambs, 
but a mixture of lard and turpentine, or tallow and 
turpentine, combined in proportion so as to be soft 
will deter germs and make healing more rapid. 
There should not be a loss from docking and castra- 
tion of more than one lamb in 500, and it is satis- 
faction to have both done so that whatever age the 
lambs may reach they will not in marketing suffer 
a ''dock'' because of their ''bucky" condition. 

WEANING. 

As a rule it is not necessary to wean lambs before 
they go to market. If they are fed right they will 
while sucking their mothers reach a weight of 75 to 
85 pounds if of mutton breeds. There is nothing 
better than mothers' milk except more mothers' 
milk! Lambs that are to remain on the farm, how- 
ever, should be separated from the ewes when ten 



162 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

or twelve weeks old, or when the advent of warm 
weather makes parasitic infection a danger. An ex- 
ception may be made of the ewe lambs, which may 
in some cases rnn with their mothers nntil they are 
weaned naturally. The advantage of weaning is that 
it makes possible the separation of the young and 
old and thus the young things are put by themselves 
on clean pasture where there can be no contaminated 
grass and thus they escape infection and parasitic 
diseases. The proper way to wean lambs is by tak- 
ing away the ewes, leaving the lambs in the pasture 
where they are accustomed to run. Build in the pas- 
ture a small yard or corral having creeps through 
which the lambs can run ; the ewes, after being away 
from the lambs for 12 hours, are returned and yard- 
ed there when the lambs will run in and milk them 
out, and when they have again gone out to feed the 
ewes may be taken away for another period. Thus 
there is a gradual separation, neither ewes nor lambs 
experiencing a shock, and if the ewes are put on 
rather sparse picking they will soon be dry. There 
is but one danger, viz. : there may be some ewes yet 
milking so heavily that their lambs will suffer from 
gorging upon their return. The watchful shepherd 
will be aware of such a case and catching them will 
milk out somewhat before letting the lambs at them, 
or if it be a late-born lamb allowing it to run yet a 
little longer. 



CHAPTER VI. 
SUMMER CAEE AND MANAGEMENT. 

THE EWE FLOCK. 

In winter the shepherd is a god to his flock. Shut 
away from natural sources of food supply the sheep 
depend entirely upon his providence and therefore 
their thrift rests entirely upon his knowledge and 
willingness to give. In summer Nature provides for- 
age in abundance, and turned out in the fields the 
sheep can choose as their instincts prompt them. 
They should then thrive upon pasture as nowhere 
else. They would were it not for two things: 
one that the shepherd too often considers a 
"pasture" as being an enclosure surrounded by a 
good fence, regardless of what the forage may be 
within ; the other that in summer time come pests of 
flies, maggots, worms and internal parasites. The 
shepherd who thoroughly learns the lesson of pre- 
vention of these pests will find his work a joy and 
will stay with it and make a large profit from his 
flock. The man who simply turns the flock to pasture 
and gives it no more attention or thought will very 
likely find himself confronted with a lot of diseased 
and unprofitable sheep within a few years and his 
farm perhaps so infected with germs of parasites 

(163) 



164 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

that there is no longer any profit in keeping sheep 
there. 

Most of the trouble comes from the internal para- 
sites, and while there is a long list of them that afflict 
sheep nearly all the trouble in our country comes 
from two or three species. By far the most preva- 
lent and troublesome is the twisted stomach worm 
(Haemonchus contortus). This inhabits the fourth 
stomach of the ewe and she carries it through the 
winter even though she may seem to be in good 
health. In spring and during summer the worms 
become filled with eggs, ''ripen" and pass away. 
Just how the young germs then re-enter the sheep 
or find a home in the more tender stomach of the 
young lambs no one knows. They probably hatch 
in shallow pools of stagnant water (infections in 
Texas and New Mexico are thought to be by this 
means) or they attach themselves to the moist grass 
close to the ground and are taken in from that posi- 
tion. It is noticed that old and rich sheep pastures 
covered with short, sweet grass are frequently the 
most fatal to young lambs even when there is no 
stagnant water in them. 

It is not too much to say that the stomach worm 
has done more to discourage sheep husbandry in 
the cornbelt of America than all other causes put to- 
gether and many a man has gone out of business 
from the depredations of this little enemy who did 
not even know that such a pest existed. 

The symptom.s of infection from stomach worms 
are, first : the wool appears lusterless and if pressed 



• SUMMER CARE AND MANAGEMENT 



165 




.^.am&M:!^ 



166 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

with the hand does not spring out again as when the 
animal is in vigorous health. Looking more closely, 
the red in the veins in and about the eye seems pale 
and when you part the wool the skin has lost its 
pinkness, and if the disease has progressed far it 
looks white and chalky. There is a disordered diges- 
tion and perhaps a depraved appetite; the animal 
may gnaw earth, rotten wood or bark ; there may be 
diarrhea or constipation. Before death comes there 
will probably be ''blackscours." Old sheep seldom 
die from stomach worms but are run down in vitality 
by the pest, while lambs may die in great numbers. 

Stomach worms seldom ever trouble sheep in cool 
regions and there is some evidence that a tempera- 
ture of 50 degrees in the soil prevents their develop- 
ment. Therefore they do not spread through a flock 
until warm weather, which may come in May and 
certainly comes in June. Up to that time the lambs 
are comparatively safe to run with the mothers; 
after that the idea of the twisted stomach worm 
must be kept ever in mind. 

It may be well here to call attention to the fact 
that there are considerable regions in America 
where fear of the stomach worm is not felt. In 
Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont 
there is little or no evidence of Haemonchus infesta- 
tion. Northern New York and the mountain regions 
of that section should be almost exempt from danger 
if flocks are properly managed. Ontario, in Canada, 
seems nearly without the dread pest. The writer 
has seen wonderful flocks in Vermont and Ontario 



SUMMER CARE AND MANAGEMENT 167 

managed very simply on thick, sweet bluegrass and 
white clover pastures and without a trace of this 
malady. The road-sicle sheep of Ontario graze 
perennially on the same restricted areas and escape 
infection. So in northern Michigan, in the Upper 
Peninsula especially, is a grand field for easy and 
almost care-free shepherding. Northern Minnesota 




COTSWOLD EWES. 



and Wisconsin should prove little subject to this 
pest. 

One evidence that cool climates deter the develop- 
ment of the Hgemonchus contortus is seen in north- 
ern England and in Scotland. On the Cheviot hills 
flocks grow as thick as the grass will bear and for 
many centuries this has been so. In Scotland the 
same is true and the writer in a rather careful study 
of conditions there saw no evidences whatever of 



168 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

infestation of this pest. There is some parasitism 
in that region but it is more likely to be of tape- 
worms or the brain parasite that causes ''gicl" or 
''staggers.'' 

It is a matter of wonder to the writer that more 
men do not in New England and our other northern 
border states turn their attention to sheep growing 
on a scale large enough to make it a business. There 
should be whole regions given up to the breeding of 
sheep, and such breeds as the Cheviot, Lincoln or 
Cotswold would there find a congenial home, while 
Shropshires and Southdowns would thrive well and 
furnish the market with prime mutton. Shepherd- 
ing without the fear of stomach worm infestation is 
a delightful occupation. 

The simplest method of keeping the lambs in 
health in the summer time is to separate them from 
the ewes and put them on grazing that has had no 
sheep on it for a year, or at least that has had no 
sheep since the previous fall. We will take up the 
care of the lambs a little later. 

The ewe flock is easily kept in health. Mature 
sheep are resistant to parasites unless they are de- 
pleted in vitality by reason of being bred too young, 
or by suckling their lambs when poorly nourished. 
It is only necessary to give them sound grass and as 
good a variety of herbage as is at hand and to 
change them from one pasture to another about once 
in ten days or a fortnight. The old adage, ''change 
of pasture makes fat sheep" is true and it depends 
upon two reasons : change gives chance for fresh 



SUMMER CARE AND MANAGEMENT 169 

herbage to spring up and it gives parasitic germs 
chance to die before finding again a living place in 
the body of its former host. It is better then to 
divide large sheep pastures into several divisions, 
and during warm weather, say about the middle of 
May till the middle of September, to change the flock 
from one division to another, letting cattle or horses 
follow them, or letting the pastures have rest till 
the flock comes back again. 

It would not help matters any to keep sheep in 
each division and change by transposition, a com- 
mon and sinful practice, as one lot would readily in- 
fect the other. It is not good management therefore 
fully to stock a pasture with sheep in any part of 
the United States east of a line running about with 
the lOOtli meridian, or roughly along the western 
limit of the cornbelt. The exception to this rule 
would be in the case of high mountain pastures or 
in the far north, where the air and soil are cool 
enough to deter the spread of parasites. 

These stomach worms are not very hard to de- 
stroy or drive out of the body of the sheep. The 
writer introduced the gasoline treatment into the 
United States and it has given excellent results in 
his practice. Coaltar creosote is said to be as good 
and perhaps better. Some coaltar dips are used 
successfully in destroying the stomach worm. We 
will give explicit directions for administering these 
remedies further on. It is enough here to empha- 
size the absolute necessity for treatment of this kind. 
The man who blindly ignores the reality of this dan- 



170 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

ger or carelessly neglects to adopt measures to ward 
it off, should blame only himself when loss comes. 

A SYSTEM OF MANAGEMENT THAT INSURES A 
HEALTHY FLOCK. 

Two men in America fought stomach worms all 
through the disastrous years of the 90 's, when little 
was known to help ; they found light, they conquered 
the pests in a measure, and kept on keeping sheep 
and studying flock management. Finally each made 
a journey to England and studied the conditions 
there with a view to solving the problem for Amer- 
ica. There they found hurdling the best answer to 
the question. Independently of each other they 
reached the same conclusions as to the practical 
solution of the question in America. Dr. H. B. Ar- 
buckle of West Virginia and the writer were the 
two men. But they wish to give all due credit to 
the Department of Zoology of the Bureau of Animal 
Industry at Washington for at last giving accurate 
details of the life history of the Hsemonchus con- 
tortus (formerly called Strongylus contortus) for 
without the details that we now have no certain plan 
could have been formulated. 

The basis of this plan is the fact that lambs are 
born free from parasitic infection ; they are healthy. 
It is only necessary to keep them healthy by pre- 
venting infection. Their mothers carry over in their 
bodies the germs that will infect them in the form 
of mature stomach worms, which when ripe pass 
away to the droppings and thus infect the pasture. 



SUMMER CARE AND MANAGEMENT 171 

When the temperature is below 40° the eggs will 
not hatch. When it is above that they will hatch out 
in a few hours or in a week or so, depending upon 
how warm it is. Freezing or drying soon kills the 
unhatched eggs. So it is seen that ewes will not 
pollute a field in winter, their droppings are sure 
to be soon frozen, at least in the region where sheep 
are mostly kept. But if the tiny worm hatches from 
the egg it feeds for a time upon the material of the 
manure and continues to grow till it is about one- 
thirtieth of an inch long. Then it creeps up on a 
blade of grass and waits to be swallowed by some 
lamb, after which it finishes its growth within the 
fourth stomach of the lamb, and, incidentally, fin- 
ishes the lamb as well. 

Under the heading of '^ Diseases of Sheep" will 
be fmmcl entire the very interesting bulletin of Dr. 
B. H. Ransom on this subject. 

Now how to manage a flock with safety and profit 
on natural grass : To begin with, the ewe flock 
should be treated for stomach worms. This is best 
done in the fall, when they come from pasture. It 
may be again done in the spring before their lambs 
come. Remedies for treatment will be found under 
the heading ^'Diseases of Sheep." The writer is of 
the opinion that use of some of the coaltar dips, in 
small doses, much diluted, will eventually be recog- 
nized as most efficient. This treatment alone has 
doubled the weight of lambs in some experiments 
in Kentucky. Next, the flock should at the approach 
of spring weather be confined to the yard and shed. 



172 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

There are two reasons for this: the one that it is 
better for the grass, and thus in the long run better 
for the flock, and the other that there is thus no con- 
tamination of land over which the lambs will later 
feed. If it were possible to wholly eradicate the 
worms from the ewes by treatment this care would 
not be needed, but unfortunately it seems almost im- 
possible with our present knowledge to kill all of 
the worms by any medication. Probably while con- 
fined to the yard the lambs will be born. It is essen- 
tial that the flock be well fed at this time so that 
the ewes be full of milk. If desired there may be 
provided a run to a rye field, or to some grass pas- 
ture that will not be afterwards used that summer, 
to help stimulate the milk flow. By May 15 probably 
the grass will be so forward that the flock may be 
turned out for good. Now begins the new manage- 
ment. Instead of turning the flock to a large pas- 
ture to roam over it at will turn them on a very 
small part of it. How best to manage this will de- 
pend upon circumstances. The writer thinks that 
in our land of small supply of labor and much hurry 
and turmoil during the summer season it is safest 
to divide the pastures by permanent wire fences. 
These are not costly and need not be very high. We 
will, then, turn the whole flock together into the 
first division ; none shall be scattered about. Of 
course there may be two flocks, one with lambs and 
a dry flock, but the dry flock had better be put apart 
somewhere or else put with the ewes. It will not 
do to let anything interfere with the regular rota- 



SUMMER CARE AND MANAGEMENT 173 




STUDIES IN SHEEP CHARACTER. 



174 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

tion of these pastures. Now once in this pasture 
the flock will be allowed to eat it down close to the 
ground. That will not hurt the grass, for all will 
go on in a short time and the grass may spring up 
again. This is how pastures are often managed in 
England by hurdles. 

Doctor Eansom says that sheep may probably be 
safely left on May pasture for two weeks. "We will 
shorten this time to 10 days, to make sure. That is, 
the germs falling to the earth could not before 10 
days find their way back into any sheep or lamb, 
and we are going to move the flock on before they 
are able to get in. 

Now in the division l)etween this pasture and the 
next we will place creeps so fixed that the lambs can 
readily pass through to the next enclosure. This 
they will early learn to do, and so they will be eat- 
ing the fresher parts of the herbage in advance of 
the ewes. 

In ten days then the whole flock- will go forward 
one pasture, the lambs yet having access to the 
fresher feeding on ahead. Doctor Eansom says we 
will need for this sure treatment the following divi- 
sions : 

For May, 2 pastures. 

For June, 4 pastures. 

For July, 4 pastures. 

For August, 4 pastures. 

For September, 3 pastures. 

For October, 2 pastures. 

That makes 19 enclosures in all and insures that 



SUMMER CARE AND MANAGEMENT 175 

tlie flock shall be kept in absolute freedom from in- 
fection tlirong'liout the year. 

However, one will not absolutely need so many 
enclosures as that. By June many of the lambs will 
be ripe, by July many of the others, and even when 
the lambs are born late when managed in this way 
they should all be ripe as peaches by the middle of 
August. After the lambs are gone the ewes can be 
managed a little less carefully, especially if they 
are in strong condition, though there is a comfort 
in knowing that every stomach worm germ that 
falls to the earth must die from a lack of a host. 

To make this thing doubly successful put flat bot- 
tomed troughs in the pastures ahead, where the 
lambs run, and put feed in them ; any sort of grain, 
corn, oats, barley, bran, coarse-ground or broken 
cake or oil meal. Thus the lambs will grow like 
weeds and pay many times over for their grain. 
Thus more sheep may be carried on the same 
ground than would be possible under ordinary treat- 
ment. There is scarcely any limit to the number 
of sheep that can be safely kept on an eastern farm 
under this system of management. The limit is, of 
course, the size of the farm and the amount of grass. 
Even this can be greatly helped by soiling. Racks 
may with great profit ])e placed in the fields and the 
ewes fed green crops, fresh mown oats, peas, clover 
or alfalfa. Thus twice as many ewes may be kept 
as the grass alone will support. The writer would 
suggest that about 400 ewes would keep one man 
nicely busy in caring for them and their lambs, haul- 



176 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

ing' water to them, soiling somewhat, and feeding 
the lambs. He would not hesitate to undertake the 
management of 400 ewes on one farm in any part 
of the cornbelt, the regions most infested with stom- 
ach worms. There is no business more sure of 
profit than this. Lambs sell remarkably well and 
the prospect is that as the western ranges are dimin- 
ished they will sell better, for the ravages of 
the stomach worm deter eastern farmers from going 
into the business. The two serious obstacles to be 
overcome are : first, the question of water and next, 
the question of shade. Water is readily hauled in 
mounted tanks as it usually is in England. Shade 
is not absolutely essential. The writer has seen 
very fat sheep in the San Joaquin valley of Califor- 
nia confined to the alfalfa meadows and with no 
shade whatever. Probably a system of canvas 
sheds, long and narrow, would not be very expensive 
nor too troublesome for one man to move and set 
up unaided. Any sort of good grass will serve. 
Kentucky bluegrass is to be preferred, perhaps 
brome grass (Bromus inermis) is better; clovers 
may be utilized and oats sown to be grazed off, with 
peas. 

The writer does not hesitate to say that he looks 
forward to seeing many sheep farms established in 
the cornbelt, each carrying from 200 to 500 ewes 
and managed nearly under this system. He feels 
confident that no other branch of the live stock in- 
dustry holds forth better prospects. 

It should be borne in mind that the earlier the 



SUMMER CARE AND MANAGEMENT 177 

lambs are born the sooner they will be gone to mar- 
ket, and thus the fewer pastures will be needed. 
Also the market is usually best in June and July, 
after the flood of fed lambs has passed and before 
the new crop from the ranges has started to come. 

Besides the stomach worm there is the worm that 
makes the nodular disease of the intestines. Any 
observant man who has dissected a mature sheep 
has often noticed on the small intestines little nod- 
ules or ''knots." These are really small tumors, 
filled with a greenish, cheesy substance. They do 
not do much harm when they are few in number, 
but the trouble is a cumulative one and the numbers 
of the nodules increase until after a time digestion 
and absorption are much interfered with. Some- 
times parts of the intestines become calcified, that 
is, so impregnated with lime salts that they are 
almost like stone. Death ensues in a longer or 
shorter time from the nodular disease. It does not 
work quickly as does the disease caused by the stom- 
ach worm. The worm causing these tumors is 
called oesophagostoma columbianum. 

This nodular disease is a hard one to cure, if in- 
deed it is possible to cure it at all after it is estab- 
lished. Prevention is about all that we can do. Dr. 
W. H. Dalrymple of the Louisiana Experiment Sta- 
tion has shown, however, that it is readily commu- 
nicable from affected ewes to their lambs througli 
the medium of the pasture. He has also demon- 
strated that where diseased ewes are kept confined 
to the barn and their lambs allowed to run on clean 



178 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

pasture not contaminated by the presence of any 
old slieep, tlie lambs remain healthy and thus a new 
and healthful stock can be had even from a diseased 
flock. None of these diseases originates spontane- 
ously. There are no other known hosts of these 
diseases than sheep, goats and perhaps deer, so it 
is merely a question of starting with the lambs, 
born free of all parasites, and keeping them in 
health by putting them on fresh and uninfested 
pasture. 

USE OF SOWN PASTURES. 

The easy way of management is to use only the 
wild or natural grass pastures, the same ones year 
after year, but there is often great good resultant 
from sowing special pasture crops for the flock. 
Eye sown in the fall will afford very useful pasture 
before Christmas and again very early in spring. 
If vetches are sown with the rye in mild latitudes 
they will together in spring make good grazing, and 
clover sown in March will take the land after the 
rye is gone. Rye is not a rich grazing crop ; in fact, 
is a poor one, but it adds the element of succulence 
to the diet and thus has its value. Then it gives 
employment and exercise in the way that the ewe 
likes best to take it, wandering about the field and 
picking here and there. Then there is almost no 
danger at all of parasite infection from grazing 
rye, or from grazing any sown crop for that mat- 
ter. Rye where clover is sown with it should not 
be too closely grazed after the clover gets started, 
and it is wellto cut it for hay before it heads. If 



SUMMER CARE AND MANAGEMENT 



179 





180 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

permitted to liead it becomes woody and makes very 
inferior liay, and the clover does not come on again 
so quickly. 

OATS AND ALFALFA PASTURE. 

Oats sown early in the spring with clover or 
alfalfa form an excellent pasture for about two 
months in late spring and early summer, following 
the use of rye. Oats should be sown on good soil 
or should be well fertilized and may be sown rather 
thickly, as much as two bushels per acre, with about 
a peck of clover or alfalfa. If the land is well 
drained — a clay loam with limestone in it — alfalfa 
will make the bfest growth and pasture. Eed clover, 
however, thrives on thinner soils than alfalfa and 
is the pioneer among the legumes. On any rich 
limestone clay soils, however, alfalfa is the queen 
of forage crops from Labrador to the Gulf. In de- 
pasturing oats where legumes have been sown with 
them some judgment must be exercised else the deli- 
oate clovers will suffer. It is well to allow the oats 
to get up about eight inches high, then turn in and 
permit the sheep to eat them down pretty close, 
which should be done in three or four days. If 
there are not enough sheep to do that, divide the 
field by temporary fences or hurdles, depasturing 
a part at a time. 

As soon as the oats are eaten down take the sheep 
off and let the plants come again. They may thus 
be repeatedly grazed and the result will be a beau- 
tiful stand of clover or alfalfa. 

After midsummer, however, it may be wise to 



SUMMER CARE AND MANAGEMENT 181 

keep the flock entirely off this field, letting the clover 
or alfalfa get strong to withstand the trial of the 
coming winter. 

Young clover and alfalfa should never be grazed 
hard nor eaten close the first year, else the stand 
will be seriously weakened. 

CLOVER AND ALFALFA PASTUEE. 

By all odds the most useful summer pastures in 
the cornbelt are those composed of clover or alfalfa. 
There are several distinguishing advantages in 
these crops : they renew the soil, they are rich in 
protein and add to the size, health and vigor of the 
sheep; they afford a great amount of grazing and 
they are almost absolutely free from danger of car- 
rying parasitic infection. The reason for the health- 
fulness of these plants is that sheep crop the higher 
teaves and stems, leaving the parts close to the 
ground and thus escape germs that may lurk down 
close to the earth. 

Either red clover or alfalfa is too richly a nitro- 
genous product, however, to be grazed alone. Sheep 
confined to either of them must eat too much pro- 
tein and will therefore crave food of more carbo- 
naceous or starchy composition. They will greedily 
eat grasses or even hay or dry straw to help bal- 
ance their ration. Therefore it is wise to sow a 
mixture of grasses with the clovers. The best 
grasses for this purpose are smooth brome grass 
and orchard grass. Either of these come on quick- 
ly and give a continuous grazing with the clovers. 



182 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

Of the two, brome grass (Bromus inermis) is by far 
the better, yielding more grazing and being better 
relished by the stock. Indeed this brome grass is 
one of the best pasture grasses we have and of easy 
culture, though it should always be sown in connec- 
tion with some clover, else it fails to yield as it 
should. 

Eed clover and alfalfa should not be mixed to- 
gether. If they are the red clover having the habit 
of more vigorous growth at first crowds badly its 
slower neighbor. It is wise, however, to put about 
10 per cent of alfalfa seed in all clover mixtures 
sown on suspected alfalfa soil, for the small amount 
of alfalfa will infect the field with the alfalfa bac- 
teria so that in after years it may be all profitably 
sown to alfalfa alone. 

DANGER FROM CLOVER AND ALFALFA PASTURE. 

Sheep grazing leguminous crops often suffer from 
hoven, or bloat, caused by the fermentation of the 
tender leaves within the paunch. The greatest dan- 
ger of this is when the clover is young and tender 
and growing rapidly. 

After alfalfa becomes woody there is not much 
danger from bloating. Nor is there so much danger 
when grasses are mixed with the clovers in the pas- 
ture. After sheep become accustomed to eating the 
clovers, they have then learned somewhat by in- 
stinct how much to store within. Pasturing on clo- 
vers is never absolutely safe, yet certain simple 
rules will almost always prevent trouble. 



SUMMER CARE AND MANAGEMENT 



183 



First, the clovers should have reached nearly to 
the blossoming stage before the sheep are turned in. 

The sheep should not be hungry. They should 
have a preliminary course of feeding of some sort 
till their appetites are well sated. Perhaps a fill-up 




YEARLING OXFORD RAM. 



on good grass pasture will generally best accomplish 
this. 

They should go on the clover or alfalfa pasture 
after eating all they will of other things at about ten 
o'clock in the morning, at a time when they natu- 
rally prefer to cease eating and go to lie in the 
shade. 

They should be given salt as soon as put upon 



184 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

pasture, and salt mixed with air-slaked lime should 
be kept before them. 

They should never thereafter be removed night 
or day, rain or shine, as long as they are desired 
to graze the field. 

Of course they may have the run of an adjacent 
grass pasture, and be permitted to go and come at 
will, but they must never be taken away even for a 
few hours and allowed to get hungry and then re- 
turned to the clover or alfalfa field. If they are, 
there is danger that they will gorge themselves too 
suddenly and bloating may result. 

The writer devotes considerable space to the sub- 
ject because he has had a long and successful expe- 
rience in pasturing clover and especially alfalfa 
with sheep, and in his practice he has found these 
rules essential to success. It is well worth the risk, 
seeing that this pasture returns such well nourished 
and healthy sheep and is so free from danger of 
parasitic infection. The writer has annually lost 
from 2 to 4 per cent from bloat on alfalfa pasture, 
commonly of animals not in the best health, and if 
it has returned the other 96 or 98 per cent in fine 
health to him, he considers the sacrifice of small 
amount. 

The following remedies for bloated sheep are 
good: 

When first in distress, administer three table- 
spoonfuls of raw linseed oil in which is a teaspoon- 
ful of turpentine. 

If this does not relieve at once, tie or hold a large 



SUMMER CARE AND MANAGEMENT 



185 



corncob or stick of similar size crossways in the 
mouth like a bridle bit; hold the head up, stand 
astride the ewe and seek gently to press out the gas 
with the knee. Do not use too much force. 

Pour several buckets of very cold water slowly 
on the distended side over the paunch. This often 




LEICESTER RAM, 



of itself relieves the distress by stopping the accu- 
mulation of gas. 

If there is too much distension for these meas- 
ures to relieve, make an incision on the left side, 
high up, where the greatest distension is seen, and 
let the gas escape. A trochar is best for this but a 
penknife will serve. The incision should be just 



186 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

large enough to insert some small tube — a small 
joint of cane fishing pole, a pipestem or goosequill. 

Keep hold of the tube, else it will slip within the 
paunch and be lost and perhaps do serious damage 
to the sheep. After relief has been had disinfect 
the wound. It should not be large enough to need 
stitches, but care must be had that flies do not blow 
it. Pine tar will repel flies. The wool should be 
cut away from the wound. 

There will be some years when there will not be 
occasion for any remedy whatever and with the 
same treatment there will be at other times more 
or less trouble. During hot and wet weather when 
alfalfa is stimulated to very rapid growth more 
trouble may be expected. 

The writer has been in the habit of pasturing 
alfalfa and yet allowing the sheep to shade in the 
barn, permitting them to come off in the morning 
when it gets too hot for their comfort. He has, 
however, been careful that a boy should stir them 
out and send them fieldward again by three or four 
o'clock in the afternoon. 

In sowing alfalfa that probably may be pastured, 
be sure to sow a mixture of brome grass (Bromus 
inermis) with it. A light scattering of brome seed 
is best, else it will soon crowd out the alfalfa. We 
have had no difficulty in eradicating the brome grass 
when afterward the fields have been cultivated. 

The writer has solved most of the problems of 
summer management in the way outlined. One se- 
rious trouble, however, remains for solution. The 



SUMMER CARE AND MANAGEMENT 187 

ewes will often g-et too fat under sucli treatment 
and somteimes refuse to breed regularly. He has 
not yet found a solution of this problem. In Eng- 
land, where this often occurs, the fat ewes would go 
for mutton and there would end that difficulty, but 
where one has a flock of pure-bred sheep of consid- 
erable value this is not a satisfactory solution for 
America. 

Some manner of exercising the flock will probably 
prove the best cure for the sterility, but as a busi- 
ness proposition with a grade flock it is no very 
serious matter. 

Where one is within reach of tracts of rough and 
poor mountain pasture the problem is solved in a 
natural way by turning the flock onto this thin 
grass where they must take abundant exercise by 
walking and climbing and will not find an excess of 
food. This is the natural way of preventing an 
excess of flesh. 

It is not a safe plan to attempt reduction of flesh 
by over-pasturing of small and fertile fields. The 
result is to cause the ewes to gnaw the herbage 
there into the ground and parasitic infection is 
pretty sure to follow. 

THE USE OF RAPE. 

Eape belongs to the same order of plants as the 
cabbages, and rape leaves have a similar taste and 
appearance as cabbages. On rich soil rape yields 
an astonishing amount of forage, which must be 
eaten green, as owing to its watery nature it can- 



188 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

not be cured into hay. There seems a peculiar affin- 
ity between the cabbage family and the sheep. Com- 
mon cabbages, thousand-headed kale, rape, swede 
turnips — all are greedily eaten and make good, 
healthful development. 

Eape comes into good play during the drouths of 
autumn and after cool, frosty weather has stopped 
the growth of grass in the fall. It may be sown in 
the corn at the time of the last working, using 
about three or four pounds of seed to the acre and 
letting the cultivator cover it. Should the season 
prove moderately moist thereafter the rape will 
come on and be ready to make a vigorous growth as 
soon as the corn is cut. By the middle of October 
it may be waist high over the field and will afford 
an immense amount of grazing until Christmas or 
later. 

Care should be taken not to turn on rape early 
in the morning in late fall when it is frosted, as 
every leaf that is bent at that time will blacken and 
decay. It takes a cold of about 12° above to injure 
rape if it is not disturbed until it has thawed again. 

Sheep will fatten on rape, though an addition of 
grain is profitable and access to a grass pasture or 
the regular feeding of good hay in connection with 
it is very desirable. There is some danger from 
bloat in rape feeding, though the writer has never 
had to treat a sheep for rape bloating nor lost one. 
The value of rape as a grazing plant for sheep is too 
little appreciated. 

The Dwarf Essex seems the best variety to sow. 



SUMMER CARE AND MANAGEMENT 189 

In Oregon thousand-headed kale gives the best re- 
sults. It is like a larger rajje. 

CABBAGES. 

In fitting sheep for the show ring cabbages are 
almost indispensable, and for feeding in fall and 
early winter they are most excellent. In many 
places cabbage grows luxuriantly and a given 
amount of sheep feed can probably be as cheaply 
grown from this plant as in any other way. In 
considering these foods it must be borne in mind 
that a certain portion of succulence is absolutely 
necessary to sheep if it is to be kept in perfect 
health. It is less trouble to grow the common farm 
crops of grain and hay and sheep can be maintained 
upon them alone, but not in their highest degree of 
health and profit. There is also in the rape, tur- 
nips and cabbages some quality that makes for 
healthful growth of wool. 

PUMPKIKS. 

Among the best autumn and early winter supple- 
mentary foods for sheep are pumpkins. They are 
readily grown in the cornfield or in a separate field 
by themselves and yield a large amount of feed to 
the acre. Our method of growing is to use pump- 
kin seeds to replant with in the cornfield, putting 
them in wherever missing hills occur. In this man- 
ner we have secured as high as two tons of pump- 
kins to the acre without in the least injuring the 
crop of corn, provided the season proved favorable. 



190 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

In fact, the shading of the ground between the corn 
rows by the wide leaves of the pumpkin vines serves 
to help conserve the moisture when it is most needed 
and the corn is often the better for the association 
of the vines. It is safer, however, to plant pumpkins 
by themselves. 

Pumpkins serve the flock in two ways : first, as a 
direct and healthful food of considerable nutritive 
value and yet never dangerous from excessive rich- 
ness, and next from the direct medicinal value of 
the seeds. Pumpkin seeds are among the best ver- 
mifuges known. They should never be removed 
from the pumpkins but fed all together, and if fed 
in considerable amounts, the direct and immediate 
improvement in the flock will be very apparent. 
Tapeworms have never troubled the writer's flock 
in the least and no other reason can be attributed 
than the annual liberal pumpkin feeding. 

The way to feed pumpkins is to strew them about 
the pasture without cutting them open at all, or at 
least cutting only a few of them. If many are cut 
the sheep eat only the soft inside parts at first, with 
the seeds, and might in this way get too many seeds 
for their good, whereas when they must gnaw away 
into the pumpkin they will eat it up clean before at- 
tacking another. The pumpkins keep better to be 
scattered over the field than to be piled in heaps, at 
least before the frost strikes them. 

The secret in growing pumpkins is, first, to have 
the land rich, then to plant a great surplus of seeds. 
The striped cucumber beetle revels on pumpkin 



SUMMER CARE AND MANAGEMENT 191 

leaves, and if not enough are planted for liim and 
you also lie will reap the entire harvest at an early 
date. They may be thinned after beginning to vine. 
It is particularly desirable to have the ewe flock 
thriving and increasing in flesh at time of breeding. 
Not only will the lambs conceived at such a time 
be of superior weight but there will be a larger 
number of twins among them. 

CAEE OF THE FEET. 

Wlien the sheep are turned to pasture in the 
spring their feet should be carefully trimmed and 
shortened. It is easier to do this if they are per- 
mitted to go in the wet grass for a day or two and 
are taken in while their hoofs are yet soft. They 
will at such a time cut like cheese, whereas if they 
are trimmed when dry they will be very horny in 
texture. 

Nature evidently intended the sheep for climbing 
over very rocky soil where the feet would be sub- 
jected to rapid wear. It is probable, too, that in se- 
lecting individuals for their superior wool growth 
the horn growth of the feet has kept apace with the 
wool growth in some degree, since there is a rela- 
tionship between horn growth and wool. In any 
event it is very unlikely that with the amount of 
travel needed on arable farms the sheep will suffi- 
ciently wear down their feet to relieve the shep- 
herd of need to trim them twice a year, and with 
some breeds more often. 

Unless the feet are kept trimmed they will be- 



192 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

come deformed and the sheep will stand on one side 
of the foot, with the ankle turned over, giving 
doubtless some pain and a very awkward look. 

The aim of trimming should be to keep the feet 
as short as possible, not to cut to the quick, so that 
they may be able to stand naturally and squarely 
upon them. It is probable that lack of trimming is 
in some degree responsible for disease of the feet. 
Disease may occur, unfortunately, even in feet that 
have been well trimmed, and the subject must have 
attention. 

FOOT-EOT AND FOOT-SCALD. 

The shepherd commonly makes a distinction be- 
tween a simple contagious affection of the foot 
called foot-scald and the real and very serious dis- 
ease, also contagious, called foot-rot. There seems 
reason to believe that there is a form of foot-scald 
that rapidly goes through a flock yet readily yields 
to treatment that is distinct from the more severe 
and less easily eradicated foot-rot. 

It is the belief of the writer, however, that quite 
often the shepherd hides his genuine foot-rot be- 
hind the more harmless appellation. 

There is, however, an inflammation of the skin 
between the claws of the foot that does not extend 
beneath the horny covering of the foot itself and 
that yields quite readily to a simple treatment of 
putting the sheep upon a dry footing, cleansing 
from filth and an application of some coaltar dip or 
carbolic acid. 

When the disease has penetrated beneath the shell 



SUMMER CARE AND MANAGEMENT 193 

of the foot and there is found there a watery, evil- 
smelling exudation it is genuine foot-rot and should 
have immediate and thorough treatment, with pre- 
ventive measures to preclude its spreading to the 
rest of the flock. 

First, it is necessary to pare away all the horn 
that hides the diseased surface. The disease being 
one of germ origin, there is no hope of cure except 
through the complete destruction of the germs, and 
they must therefore be uncovered from their hiding. 
A sharp knife in the hands of a careful and thor- 
ough man is a kind thing to the affected sheep, even 
though it may cause some temporary pain. No 
germicide can penetrate the horn. 

When once the diseased surface is laid bare it is 
only necessary to wet it well with a strong solution 
of blue vitriol (sulphate of copper), or butter of 
antimony, to bind it up if much horn has been cut 
away and keep the sheep on dry footing for a time. 

It is necessary, however, to prevent the spread 
of the disease through the flock. To do this all feet 
should be carefully trimmed and any sore ones 
given individual treatment. Then a trough 6" wide 
in the bottom, 12" wide at the top, 12" deep and 
about 10' long should be made of three two-inch 
planks. This must be enclosed with hurdles so that 
the sheep may be compelled to pass through it. The 
writer has fastened such a trough at the door of 
the sheep barn so that in order to pass out the flock 
must pass through the trough. Then it was only 
necessary to confine the flock for a time and they 



194 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

would of their own accord go out, each one walking 
through the trough. 

This treatment was given daily for a week or so, 
as it took little of the shepherd's time and was in- 
expensive. By this means foot disorders were erad- 
icated from the flock after having caused much 
trouble. 

In the trough was placed a simple lime white- 
wash, in which was sufficient blue vitriol to give 
it a blue color. This effectually prevented the spread 
of the disease and cured many cases in their incip- 
iency. 

In no other business is it more true that ''a stitch 
in time saves nine ' ' than in the care of sheep. 

It is unfortunate that the average American 
farmer sells out when foot-rot strikes his flock when 
he can so easily control and eradicate the disease. 
Troubles must come in all endeavors, so when one 
has been suffered and the remedy therefor found 
it is not a reason for abandonment of enterprise 
but the more reason for continuance, rather than to 
''fly to troubles we know not of.'' 

ADVENT OF LATE LAMBS. 

There are situations where it is desirable that 
lambing should be delayed imtil grass comes. When 
forage and grain are scarce and the means not at 
hand to nourish well the ewe after lambing until 
grass comes, when indeed grass is the chief asset of 
the shepherd it is wise to time the lambing so that 
the lambs will come at about the same time as the 



SUMMER CARE AND MANAGEMENT 



195 



grass. Incloed a lamb dropped then will make a far 
better growth than one dropped weeks earlier from 
a poorly-nonrislied ewe, half-starved by its mother 
because she camiot give it much milk before she her- 
self has been fed. Nor will such a ewe respond in 




IMPORTED HAMPSHIRE RAM LAMBS. 



her milk flow to green grass as she would did her 
lamb come after grass has started anew in her veins 
a vigorous coursing of the vital fluid. 

It is most wise, however, to see to it that these 
late lambing ewes are strengthened by some supple- 



196 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

mentary feeding before the lambs appear. A little 
grain fed tlien will repay its cost several times, for 
the well-nourished ewe goes easily through the 
pains of lambing and loves well her offspring if she 
has milk for it inside her udder. 

The shepherd who lambs on grass may have the 
lamb crop all born within a very few days. They 
will be anxious days while they last, but the agony 
is soon over, seeing that this is the time Nature set 
for this miracle to take place, and the ewes natu- 
rally -conceive readily to lamb then. Great watch- 
fulness is necessary and there are certain helps that 
may be mentioned. 

THE LAMBI^TG TENT. 

Many western sheep owners use small shelter 
tents about 42 inches square, supported by curved 
iron rods, to shelter the ewe and her lamb from 
storm. These tents are readily carried and set over 
the ewe anywhere. They serve to keep her and her 
offspring together while they are becoming ac- 
quainted, and by turning the chilling rain save 
many lambs that would otherwise be lost. As these 
tents are inexpensive and can readily be made by 
the shepherd himself some of them should be at 
hand when an early lambing on grass is planned. 

It is desirable to scatter the flock as much as pos- 
sible at this time, for then the ewes are the more 
readily kept track of and their lambs are not so 
often lost through mixing and straying from their 
mothers. This latter is particularly dangerous in 



SUMMER CARE AND MANAGEMENT 197 

case of twins, seeing that the ewe is often content 
if she has one lamb with her and looks very little 
for the other. 

There are exceptions to this rule, however. The 
writer has known Dorset ewes that seemed to have 
perfect memories and a knowledge of numbers and 
would seek as earnestly for a strayed twin as 
though it were a single lost lamb. 

Seeing that the ewes at this time must give their 
attention to their lambs and cannot wander wide in 
search of food, it is a good plan to lamb them on 
some specially good piece of grass. iVnd to aid in 
keeping them quiet the shepherd may carry with 
him oats, giving a handful to the ewe wherever he 
finds her. It is hardly probable that a larger per 
cent of lambs will be saved by lambing on grass 
than by lambing earlier, nor will they ever be so 
good as early lambs pushed from the start, but tliey 
may be produced with comparatively little trouble 
and in some situations are the only ones that it is 
practicable to produce. The care of the shepherd 
is particularly required when ewes lamb on grass. 

No lambs should be permitted to be born later 
than the first of May, except in a high mountainous 
region where grass starts late and cool summer 
weather prevails. Lambs born in May, June or 
July seldom amount to much, owing no doubt to the 
fact that they are almost sure to become infested 
with parasites. Between April and September, 
then, there should be no lambing done. Rather than 
to lamb out of season the ewe should be allowed to 



198 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

go over open and slie may be bred in the spring for 
fall lambs. 

FALL LAMBS. 

Tlie best sheep are developed from fall-born 
lambs. They may begin to come in September. 
From this time on till winter the conditions are ex- 
cellent for their growth and development. The 
weather then is favorable, food is abundant, the 
ewes are easily made to milk largely, and instead of 
the weather becoming warmer and more oppressive 
it becomes steadily more and more stimulating to 
the lambs. And, best of all, there is little danger of 
parasites at this time. The fall lambs come out in 
spring half matured and able to go safely and 
healthfully through the trials of summer. Or if 
they are sold at the market they bring long prices 
in winter time. It is not altogether easy to get 
ewes to lamb in the fall. Certain breeds refuse al- 
together to do this, but with some of the Merinos 
and their grades and the Dorsets and Dorset grades 
it is not so difficult of accomplishment. To get 
ewes to breed in spring the conditions of fall must 
be complied with as nearly as possible. 

First, the ewes must have their lambs of the pre- 
vious crop born as early as possible so that they 
may be weaned and new strength gained from a 
term of rest. 

Next, they must be sufficiently well fed so that 
they will feel an ascending current of health 
throughout their veins. 

They must have the ram turned with them before 



SUMMER CARE AND MANAGEMENT 199 

warm weather comes on. April and May are tlie 
months in which to breed ewes for fall lambs. 

The rams must not as a usual thing be permitted 
to run continually with the ewes at this time. If 
they do they themselves soon acquiesce in the idea 
that it is an unnatural time for breeding. It is 
wise if the ram can be kept up and turned with the 
flock for only an hour or two each day, as described 
in earlier pages of this work. Or two rams may be 
used, their rivalry exciting them to extra exertion. 

There is no doubt whatever that the breeding in- 
stinct is in part a result of mental processes that 
may be stimulated by suggestion. This is almost as 
true of the sheep as it is of higher races of animals. 
The ram that persistently courts the ewe may after 
a time so divert (by his suggestion) blood to her re- 
productive organs as to cause her to come in heat 
and conceive at a time when naturally these organs 
would be in a dormant condition. 

If the shepherd does not care to risk the uncertain \} 
mental influence of the ram he may practice holding 
the ewe and compelling her to accept the attention 
of the ram once. This often supplies stimulation 
enough to cause her to come naturally in heat and 
to conceive at the later service. 

Fall-born lambs in America have developed into 
as fine sheep as ever were produced in England. 
This is true of few lambs born in spring, no matter 
how skillfully they have been treated. Fall-born 
ram lambs make fine strong fellows when they are 
yearlings and ready to go into service. 



CHAPTER VII. 
WASHING, SHEAEING AND MARKING. 

The washing of sheep to remove the surplus oil 
in the wool was once a universal practice. It was 
one of those old practices, like putting ''redding'' 
on the fleeces to make the sheep look attractive (!) 
that are hard to account for. The washing did not 
prejjare the wool for the manufacturer nor render 
it more easily scoured by him. It did, however, ren- 
der it lighter, and therefore the buyers found wash- 
ing to their advantage. 

At the present time few sheep, comparatively 
speaking, are washed before shearing. It may, how- 
ever, be profitable in some localities where buyers 
discriminate sharply against unwashed wool to con- 
tinue to put sheep through the water as of old. 

If the sheep owner can find a buyer who really 
knows his business and buys honestly, he will get 
as much for his fleeces unwashed as washed, and 
can therefore save himself the disagreeable task 
and the flock the injury that such a shock is bound 
to inflict. 

One serious disadvantage of washings is that it 
cannot be done safely and comfortably until the 
advent of warm weather, whereas the flock should 

(200) 



WASHING, SHEARING AND MARKING 201 

be sliorn mucli before that time, unless it be a hill 
flock running- without shelter. 

For washing sheep a considerable body of water 
is required. It is usual to take advantage of a creek 
or natural pool. The sheep are immersed, the wool 
squeezed a little between the hands and they are 
permitted to go out and drain themselves on the 
bank. No soap is used, as the oil of the wool is 
itself readily dissolved in water, and it is this oil 
only that is sought to be removed. It is usual to 
allow ten days or two weeks to elapse after washing 
before the sheep are shorn; and, in fact, it is not 
easy to shear them as soon as they are dry owing to 
the difficulty in penetrating the wool with the shears 
until more oil has been secreted in the wool. 

WASHING AND SHEARING. 

The dipping tank can be used for washing sheep, 
but not unless there can in some way be secured a 
continuous stream of water to flow through it. The 
sheep should not drain back into the tank in case 
it is used. It is to be hoped that this custom of 
washing will soon be one of ancient history wher- 
ever sheep are grown. 

Some sheep owners have their fleeces tub-washed 
after being taken from the sheep's back. This is 
not difficult to do, only that the drying is slow and 
it ought not to be necessary. 

The writer, living on the fortieth parallel, usually 
shears his ewe flock the first week in April and 
sometimes the last week in March. 



202 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

There are several advantages of this early shear- 
ing. About this time ewes that have been well fed 
often experience a little loosening of the wool, as 
though it were time to shed it off, and locks will be 
lost, particularly about the neck. 

Then the advent of warm days causes a feeling 
of languor and the sheep do not eat and thrive as 
has been their wont. And again, there are many 
showers in April and the flock with fleeces on lit- 
erally '4ias not sense enough to come in out of the 
rain" and the fleeces become drenched and heavy. 
Then they keep their lambs out in the rain, whereas 
if they were shorn they would flee to their sheds 
as soon as the first drops struck them. 

Any one who has once tried this early shearing 
will continue it. Should the flock be poorly fed, 
however, and unsheltered, the fleeces should be left 
on until the middle of May. 

The amount of wool taken off in a period of years 
will probably be nearly the same whether shorn in 
April, May or June, with the probability that the 
early-shorn sheep through their greater vigor and 
healthfulness may shear the most. 

SHEAKING. 

The shearing of sheep is an art not to be imme- 
diately learned by the novice. It requires several 
seasons' practice to make an expert shearer of a 
man. There is, unfortunately, a scarcity of good 
shearers in all our eastern states. It is a trade 
that any vigorous young man may learn with sure 



WASHING; SHEARING AND MARKING 203 

expectation of making good wages for some weeks 
eacli season. A good shearer will shear from 45 to 
100 sheep in a day, using common hand shears. He 
will get for his service from 4 to 10 cents each, per- 
haps 6 cents being the average price. 

The shearing place should be in some light, airy 
part of the barn. A clean platform on which to 
work is necessary. If nothing else is available, 
since sheep barns have usually the natural earth 
floor, a spare barn door may be taken from its 
hangings and laid down for temporary use. A small 
pen close by holds enough sheep in readiness to 
keep the shearer busy for some hours. 

In back regions it is customary to tie the legs of a 
sheep, place it on a low platform or box and set 
two men, or one man and a boy at work cutting off 
the fleece. This is a childish and unskilled method 
that should not be imitated. 

The sheep is a peculiar animal, directly sensitive 
to touch'. Tie the legs, or even touch them, it re- 
sponds by struggling to be free. Turn it so that it 
cannot get its feet to the ground and its struggles 
cease, as though it knew the hopelessness of strug- 
gling. 

Following this thought, if one attempts to hold a 
horned sheep by the horns it continues to struggle 
and cannot seem to understand why it is not free. 
It cannot feel the press of the hand upon the horn. 
Hold the same sheep by a touch under the chin and 
if it has had a trifle of training it, feeling your hand, 
yields and stands dutifully. 



204 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

The sliearer tlien, without tying the feet, turns 
the sheep upon its rump, with its head and shoul- 
ders resting against him, supported by the left arm 
and with the shears in the right hand opens the 
wool, usually on the right shoulder, and proceeds to 
clip it away, keeping it as much as possible in one 
piece. That is, he strips it away easily and gently 
as he would remove a coat. It is essential that he so 
bend the sheep's body that the skin will be at all 
times tight. If this is done it is easy to cut the wool 
closely and there is little danger of cutting the skin. 

When the wool is removed all very dirty pieces 
should be separated from it and never tied up with 
the fleece. There is need of honesty in tying wool 
and nothing but wool should go inside a fleece. The 
fleece is rolled with the belly and loose ends inside, 
the cut fibers out. It is tied, not too tightly, with 
special wool twine wrapped twice or at most three 
times around. 

The use of binder twine or any but special wool 
twine greatly injures the wool, as the small bits of 
fiber get in it and not taking dyes must be picked out 
by hand. This occasions a loss of sometimes as 
much as 5 cents per pound which must eventually 
come from the producer, since manufacturers learn 
what sort of stuff is to be expected from some re- 
gions and bid for it accordingly. Some farmers are 
disposed to overlook such points in marketing their 
products, but it invariably results in loss, not only 
to themselves, but frequently to a whole community. 

There is no need of a box or wool table for tying 



WASHING^ SHEARING AND MARKING 



205 



a very compact bundle since buyers prefer the ordi- 
nary, rather loosely tied fleeces. 



SHEARING MACHINES. 



The use of machines has now become quite com- 
mon in shearing sheep and they are sufficiently well 




HAND-SHEARING MACHINE. 



perfected so that they do their work with little 
trouble from breakage. It is far easier to learn to 
shear sheep with machine than by hand, though old 
shearers prefer the hand shears and can shear as 
many sheep in the old-fashioned way as with the 
machine. Not so, however, with the novice ; he will 



206 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

sliear twice as many with the machine as he will 
with hand shears. 

Then the work is far better done with the ma- 
chine. There are no shear wounds and the fleeces 
are taken off closely and evenly. There need be 
made no second cuts, which cause short fibers little 
better than shoddy. 

The machine shears in careful hands will cut in 
two every tick and leave the sheep clean of that 
vermin. 

Against its use is the cost of the machine, about 
$15.00 for a hand machine, and the cost of repairs. 
If well oiled and cared for, however, it will last for 
many seasons with occasional renewal of cutting 
parts. 

Then there is needed a boy to turn the crank, so 
that its use requires two persons to shear a sheep. 
As the boy is unskilled and may usually be had for 
a small sum this is, not important. Altogether the 
writer advises the man who has not available skilled 
shearers of the old-fashioned type, and does the 
shearing himself, to use the machine. If he must 
hire shearers he had better let them furnish their 
own tools. 

There are power machines for large plants. These 
are operated very successfully by gasoline engines, 
and there are small power machines with two sets 
of shears. These are entirely practical, but it is not 
usually profitable to install a power plant for fewer 
than 500 sheep. 

"When sheep are to go to market after being shorn 



WASHING;, SHEARING AND MARKING 



207 




208 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

tlie macliine is a saving since it takes off more wool 
than hand shears can. The saving is from 2 to 8 
ounces. A saving of 4 ounces, or 14 pound, would 
pay the cost of shearing. All sorts of sheep are 
shorn by machines, though they wor*k especially 
well on downs, long-wools and Dorsets. They 
are harder to operate on western lambs that have 
been dipped and placed on feed in winter, owing 
to the peculiar condition of the wool which seems 
to be affected by the shock of transportation and 
dipping and to be dead at that point and consequent- 
ly hard to get the shears into. 

A fat sheep nicely shorn with the machine shears 
is a very attractive object and appears fatter than 
when shorn by hand. 

The shearing machine should not be used in mid- 
summer, or if it is it should not be set to run very 
close, else there will not be enough wool left on to 
protect the sheep from flies and sunburn and it will 
suffer severely before the wool has grown out again. 

It is in some situations a good plan to shear a 
flock of ewes twice a year, once very early, say in 
late March, and again in August. The wool will 
not be quite so valuable, for it will be shorter, but 
the relief to the sheep in getting rid of its warm 
coat at this sultry time is remarkable and it will 
thrive far better than imshorn, lambing stronger if 
it is to drop fall or early winter lambs and conceiv- 
ing earlier if it is not yet bred. The writer has 
practiced this and has not had to take more than 
one cent per pound less for his short wool, which 



WASHING^ SHEARING AND MARKING 209 

loss is not worth mentioning when the advantage to 
the flock is considered. 

It is a custom of some shepherds and feeders to 
shear sheep and lambs before placing them on feed 
in the fall and early winter. 

There is little advantage in this. It forces and 
crowds them close together and they do not gain 
any better. 

The one advantage is that it is easier to free them 
from ticks after they are shorn, and if they are 
dipped less fluid is required. 

MAKKING. 

When sheep go to pasture it is well to have a 
mark upon them so that in case they accidentally 
become mixed with other sheep they may be known. 

A large letter made of wood, with a handle to 
it, is used, some thick paint serving for ink. Lin- 
seed oil and lampblack make a durable mark, plain- 
ly seen. 

Permanent marking is done by splitting, crop- 
ping or notching the ears. This is the universal 
custom on western ranges, but such disfigurement 
is seldom practiced in eastern states. There are 
metal labels that are inserted in the ears; these 
bear the name of the owners, or numbers, or the 
numbers assigned to registered sheep by the breed 
secretaries. 

There are various forms of these metal ear tags. 
None of them is absolutely sure to remain in the 
ear. The difficulty is that the ears become sore and 



210 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

pus formation eats away so much of the tissue that 
the labels drop out or they are caught and torn out 
by some branch or nail. They may remain in place 
for years and they may become lost in a short 
time. There is a right and a wrong way to put 
these metal tags in. 

The right way is to use a punch, cutting out an 
oval bit of the ear tissue and to make the hole some 
days before the label is inserted, giving the ear time 
to heal in the meantime. 

Then the hole must be so carefully gauged that 
the label will not compress the ear, yet will fit snug- 
ly and present little of projection to catch and cause 
it to be torn out. If this course is taken most of 
the labels will remain in place. 

THE TATTOO MARK. 

The best method permanently marking a sheep is 
by the tattoo mark. This is especially applicable to 
sheep with light-colored ears, though it is used on 
some of the down breeds. 

The tattoo properly put in is absolutely per- 
manent. It does not annoy the sheep, and once put 
in is a sure record as long as the animal lives. 

There are sets of tattooing instruments sold by 
dealers in shepherds' supplies. These consist of a 
frame with handles like pinchers in which are set 
removable letters and numbers. These letters and 
numbers have a great number of sharp points, form- 
ing the characters, and the handles when closed 
cause these points to prick the required characters. 



WASHING^ SHEARING AND MARKING 211 

India ink is the pigment used and when pressed 
into these minute wounds remains there, leaving an 
indelible black tracing. There is danger of the care- 
less or inexperienced operator making failure with 
this tatooing outfit, for certain things are essential. 
The levers must be so adjusted that when closed the 
points will prick evenly the required characters in 
a thick sheet of paper or cardboard. If any do not 
make their mark the instrument is out of adjust- 
ment or the letters worn out. These points rust 
unless kept oiled when not in use. 

Then in placing in the letters or figures one must 
l3e sure that he has them in right. They are like 
type, reversed, so that it is puzzling at first to the 
operator to use them and it is well to test them on a 
bit of cardboard before using them on the sheep. 
After once the mark is in the ear there is no eras- 
ing it. 

Then there should be used a great abundance of 
the india ink, smearing as much on the points as 
possible and afterward rubbing more in the ear with 
the finger. If once the pricks are made in the ear 
and the ink rubbed in them the deed is done and will 
endure. 

In England there are men who make a business 
of marking sheep with the tattoo mark. It is the 
official marking of a number of breeds and the sec- 
retary often attends in person to the marking. It 
is the most desirable mark for any pure-bred sheep 
that is to be retained as a breeder, though it is 
hardly necessary to use this mark on stock sheep 



212 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

that are soon to be fattened. It may, however, save 
much dispute if all stock ewes have their owner's 
mark, seeing that they may become mixed on pas- 
ture. 

MASKING PURE-BRED LAMBS. 

When lambs that are pure-bred are to be regis- 
tered it is essential that the shepherd so mark them 
at an early age as to identify them later according 
to their parentage. This is by no means an easy 
task. A very small lamb cannot safely carry a 
mark in its ear and there is a little trouble later on 
in discovering which ewes are the mothers of the 
lambs. 

The writer has found a good plan to be to let them 
run until they are well grown, but still sucking ; then 
separate them from their mothers some morning and 
keep them apart until they are eager for association 
with their dams. Then the lambs may be caught one 
at a time, and in one ear a tattoo number be put. 
This should be in the opposite ear from where the 
permanent number is to go. These numbers may be- 
gin each year at No. 1, rimning up as high as neces- 
sary. 

Having the number in the lamb's ear and entered 
it in a book, the lamb is placed with the ewes, where 
it soon singles out its mother, and while sucking she 
is caught and her number noted and entered opposite 
that of the lamb. A name may be given the lamb at 
the same time, though individual names except for 
exceptionally good lambs are hardly worth while. 
It is easier and as well to designate them simply by 



WASHING^ SHEARING AND MARKING 213 

numbers, identifying them with the name of the 
breeders or the farm, as ''Jones' 99" or ''Wood- 
land 174." 

Of course these permanent numbers must be con- 
secutive from year to year else the secretary would 
find duplicates in his records. 

After the lambs have been weaned and are suf- 
ficiently developed to indicate which are worth per- 
manent record their records are sent to the breed 
secretary and he records them and sends with tlieir 
certificates the association number, which must be 
placed in the ear left blank for that purpose. 

Care must be taken not to make confusion by 
using occasionally the wrong ear, and it is well to 
use numbers of different size for this first marking. 
If they are a trifle larger than the permanent num- 
bers it is well, seeing that the ear will grow, and if 
they were made a little smaller they would in time 
become of the same size as the ones later put in. 

The writer is of the opinion that shepherds are 
usually very careless in assigning mothers to lambs 
for record and guess more than they should. 

The English system is to record the individual 
rams and the ewes by flocks only. Seeing that they 
have achieved glorious results in the development 
of breeds by their course it would seem presump- 
tions for the American breeders to claim superiority 
of method. The writer unhesitatingly declares that 
the English system should be adopted on this side 
of the water and sees but one objection to it, that, 
perhaps, a fatal one, that in recording by flocks men 



214 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

are not compelled to pay much for the support of 
the breed association. In England this is done 
largely by subscription and liberal annual dues; 
here by charging 50c each for recording individual 
sheep. The English system would relieve the secre- 
taries of a vast amount of drudgery that seems to 
have accomplished very insignificant results. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

FLOCK HUSBANDRY IN THE WESTERN 
STATES. 

NEW MEXICO. 

The management of flocks npon the great ranges 
of the West varies considerably according to the 
climate and topography of the country and accord- 
ing to the character of the men engaged in the in- 
dustry. Probably the oldest sheep industry in the 
United States was founded in New Mexico by the 
early Mexican colonists of Spanish and Indian 
origin. There are in New Mexico vast plains rang- 
ing from 4,000 to 8,000 feet in altitude, interspersed 
with mountains and canyons. These plains are gen- 
erally covered with a rather thick, short grass of 
considerable nutritive value. The climate is dry 
and moderately cool, especially at night. 

The days are almost uniformly sunny and warm. 

The native Mexican sheep found there in its 
purity is becoming more and more uncommon, owing 
to the steady introduction of Merino blood. There 
has also been introduced here more or less blood 
from the English breeds, but as a rule the Merino 
has been found to cross better and to withstand the 
conditions better than the mutton breeds. 

Management on most of these Mexican ranches 

(215) 



216 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

is extremely simple. Native Mexican sheep owners 
often nse corrals (small yards built of cedar or 
pinion posts set close in the ground) in which the 
flocks (called ^^herds'^ throughout the West) are 
confined at night. This secures them from loss from 
coyotes or mountain lions. The corralling is, how- 
ever, a serious injury to the sheep since they must 
travel some distance to and from the enclosure and 
what is worse must await the pleasure of the herder 
before they can go forth to graze in the morning. 

CHARACTER OF MEXICAN SHEEP. 

The native Mexican sheep is indeed a *^ sorry'' 
animal, having few characteristics that we are wont 
to associate with good form or character. It has a 
thin neck and feeble look, a curving back, round, 
contracted belly, thin legs and rather woe-begone 
countenance. The wool is coarse and scanty, the 
bellies and legs being often bare. And yet the 
Mexican sheep is not without its peculiar virtues. 

It is fairly prolific and the lambs are hardy. It 
is a great traveler and can subsist upon scanty and 
dry forage. When worst comes to worst, and in 
the lower country along the Eio Grande, far down 
in Texas and across the river in old Mexico rain 
does not fall and all herbage is dried up and turned 
to dust, the humble Mexican still subsists upon the 
tender ends of twigs, upon cactus joints, upon the 
withered grass growing between the cactus bunches 
and upon dry weeds that have blown by the wind 
across the plains. They may become very much 



FLOCK HUSBANDRY IN WESTERN STATES 



217 



emaciated but seldom perish. The Mexican ewe 
when mated with a good Merino ram produces an 
offspring far superior to herself, and with a second 
cross upon this foundation very serviceable flocks 
are established. Indeed, a very great number of 
flocks througliout New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, 




YEARLING OXFORD RAM. 



Utah and California have been bred up from a 
Mexican basis. 

After infusion of Merino blood the use of rams 
of one of the mutton breeds produces an admirable 
lamb, sprightly, a good feeder, healthy and rugged. 
There will occur, however, a good many cases of 
reversion to type, when the Mexican character will 



218 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

crop out, modified, but not destroyed by the for- 
eign bloods. 

THE ^^GOOD OLD TIMES ^^ IN NEW MEXICO. 

Under tlie old-fasliioned regime in New Mexico 
not much improvement of the herds was possible. 
There was no provision for winter feeding and there 
often occurred a somewhat long period of semi- 
starvation. Water was not readily accessible and 
often of execrable quality, being supplied by shal- 
low pools or lakes that became incredibly foul and 
dangerous to drink from. There is now a consider- 
able number of men engaged in sheep growing un- 
der better conditions. Near the irrigable valleys 
vast amounts of alfalfa are grown and winter feed- 
ing is practiced to some extent. Better rams are 
used than formerly, Eambouillets having been used 
to a considerable extent, together with Delaines and 
other Merinos. In some places Shropshire and even 
Cotswold blood has been introduced. Native Mexi- 
can sheep owners have in many instances given way 
to American owners and in other instances have 
themselves learned better methods. A peculiar in- 
dustry of this region, especially down along the 
Pecos Eiver, is the lambing of ewes in the alfalfa 
fields in March or earlier, and growing the lambs 
rapidly with grain and green alfalfa for early mar- 
keting in May and June. 

MODEKN MANAGEMENT. 

A herd may contain from 500 to 3,000 sheep. Per- 
haps 2,000 would be considered a good-sized but 



FLOCK HUSBANDRY IN WESTERN STATES 



219 




220 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

workable herd in New Mexico. At lambing time the 
ewe band is divided, not more than 1,000 being to- 
gether. Good shepherds seldom use the corral at 
night, since its use is almost certain to bring a 
steady deterioration in a good flock and prevent the 
improvement of a bad one. Instead of the corral 
the sheep are driven at evening time near to the 
tent of the herder and watched for a little time when 
they finally lie down in a compact body. They are 
then said to be ^'bedded down" and will remain 
there quietly until morning unless the moon happens 
to be very bright, or something occurs to frighten 
them. 

It is usual to have bells upon a number of the 
sheep. The herder in his tent close at hand hears 
the jingle of the bells if the sheep start to move off 
and goes around them or sends his dog. Soon the 
habit is formed with great fixity of '^bedding down" 
regularly close to their herder and they do not often 
try to stray without serious provocation. 

Very early in the morning the herd awakens and 
unless there is a storm threatening, of which they 
have instinctive foreknowledge, they will go out to 
graze. The shepherd, or ^^ sheep herder" as he is 
often called, directs them to the one way or the 
other according to the conditions of the range, and 
swallowing his rather hastily prepared breakfast 
sets out after them to see that they do not scatter 
too wide or go too far. At noon he may return to 
his tent and prepare his midday meal and perhaps 
the flock will lie quiescent for some hours if feed is 



FLOCK HUSBANDRY IN WESTERN STxiTES 221 

fairly abundant and there is shade of trees or 
rocks. 

As evening approaches he gathers them together 
and follows them to their bed ground again and 
thus has closed the labor of the day. The work is 
not usually laborious but it calls for faithfulness 
and considerable patience, and to be a really first- 
class "sheep herder" requires a deep insight into 
the ways of sheep and of all wild Nature as well. 

DISEASES OF THE RANGE. 

Sheep in this region are healthy except for two 
principal troubles : scab, which was once almost uni- 
versal, and stomach worms, or ''lombriz," which are 
occasionally destructive to lambs. Scab is very diffi- 
cult to eradicate on ranches where corrals are used 
continuously and where flocks stray about and cross 
each other's paths, and especially if they alternately 
use certain corrals. Of recent years, however, many 
herds have been made completely clean of scab and 
there is hope that all may be rid of it in the near 
future. 

That scab is not a necessary adjunct of range 
sheep the writer has amply proved, having com- 
pletely eradicated it from his own herds when en- 
gaged in ranching in Utah. 

Stomach worms (Haemonchus contortus) infect 
flocks that drink from shallow pools where to avoid 
the filth the sheep and lambs wade out till the 
water comes to their bellies, depositing there more 
germs of whatever parasite they may harbor. There 



222 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

would be no stomacli worms in these regions if sheep 
watered at clean drinking places, or at least the 
number would be greatly restricted. 

MEXICAN LAMBS AS FEEDERS. 

Mexican lambs have been favorites among Colo- 
rado feeders ever since they commenced their feed- 
ing* operations in that region. They have found their 
death losses comparatively low from the Mexican 
lambs, and that with a given amount of feed they 
make good gains. When fat they sell well because 
they dress well, and their small, light carcasses are 
in favor with local retailers of mutton. They are 
doubtless often palmed off on eastern buyers as 
^'spring lambs." Brought to Ohio the writer did 
not find them as profitable feeders as lambs from 
Utah, Wyoming or Montana, making much smaller 
gains and shearing very light fleeces. 

Some of these Mexican ewe lambs (having one 
cross of Merino blood) were kept on an Ohio farm 
and bred to lamb. They did not by their perform- 
ance indicate that they were desirable stock for 
eastern conditions. The writer thinks the sooner 
the half wild ''Mexican" blood is bred out of these 
sheep the better, save for very hard conditions of 
drouth and thinly-grassed ranges. 

THE WANDERING HERDS. 

In Utah, Nevada and parts of Colorado and in 
Idaho (with also a part of Arizona and California) 
a peculiar system of sheep ranching prevails. It 



FLOCK HUSBANDRY IN WESTERN STATES 223 

might l)(j culled tlic nomadic, or trailing system, for 
tlie herds spend their summers on the high moun- 
tain pastures, their springs and falls in intermediate 
regions and their winters in the low-lying parts, on 
the deserts and foothills. Some of the better cared- 
f or flocks are fed during part of the winter or spring 
on alfalfa or other hay grown in the valleys. 

These trailing bands of sheep are in charge of 
herders each having in his care from 2,000 to 3,000 
except during lambing time, when he is given a 
smaller number and very often has help in addition. 
He may start with them in spring, when their jour- 
ney begins from the desert toward the mountains. 
All winter they have lived on desert herbage and 
brush, and snow has been largely their reliance for 
drink. When that is melted and the water holes are 
dried up the sheep must come out of the desert and 
head toward their mountain ranges. Very often 
these ranges are a hundred miles away and in rarer 
instances they are much more distant. The herder 
moves the band eacli day by slow stages towards 
their destination, taking care to visit each promising 
spot along the way where perchance food may be 
found. This forage may be of green grass quick 
grown from the melting snows and genial sun, which 
even in March shows a fervor unknown in eastern 
lands, or it may be the young shoots of rabbit brush, 
willows and sage with an admixture of weeds. 

The herder usually has a wagon equipped with a 
canvas cover, stove and commissary. In this, his 
home, he is established and with it he journeys in 



224 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

a desultory fashion, searcliing rigiit and left for 
subsistence for his flock. There is a steadily inten- 
sifying* spirit of opposition to the nomadic sheep 
men on the part of local settlers along streams and 
in the valleys of these mountain states, since the 
herds eat the grass that would naturally belong to 
settlers' horses and cows, and because they some- 
times pollute streams that must serve as drinking 
water for the settlers and their animals. 

WAITING FOE GRASS TO COME. 

The herder cannot hasten toward his coveted 
destination, for when by drouth he is driven from 
the desert the snow is yet covering his summer 
range, hence there may be a trying period of jour- 
neying with occasionally very short feed. In fact, 
traveling flocks not unfrequently camp on each oth- 
er's bed grounds, one after the other in succession 
sometimes to the number of half a dozen. The last 
comers find little to eat save the roots of the grass. 

This habit of roving prevents the sheep men from 
having any very great regard for the preservation 
of the range and makes it difficult for them to pre- 
serve it even should they desire so to do. In truth 
there are regions where nomadic sheep have changed 
a once well-grassed country into one almost bare of 
grass and containing no forage other than compara- 
tively worthless brush and weeds. 

Lambing is usually delayed until the flocks are 
established upon their summer range, since it is 
difficult to move ewes with young lambs without 



FLOCK HUSBANDRY IN WESTERN STATES 225 

great loss. It is a liappy moment when after very 
great trials and toil the flock reaches the high moun- 
tain pastures, the snow is found to be gone and 
green grass abounds. Then there is long rest be- 
fore distant journeying must begin again. The 
moves are of only a few miles each and camps may 
remain for days and sometimes for weeks without 
being moved. The weather upon these green moun- 




BLACK FACED SHEEP IN THE HILLS. 

tain pastures is stimulating and delicious ; there are 
lovely groves of aspens and cool pine woods inter- 
spersed with flower-decked grassy glades. The 
lambs are born here and start into vigorous life and 
growth, far exceeding that of lambs born on lower 
altitudes on the plains of New Mexico. 

From some of these mountain ranges come the 
best and fattest lambs that reach the markets of 
Omaha, Kansas City and Chicago, beginning in Au- 



226 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

gust and continuing until cold weatlier. Idalio es- 
pecially and Utah are noted for their fine lambs. 

THE BLOOD OF THE HEEDS. 

The basis of the flocks of this region is Merino, 
but there has been added a great deal of mutton 
blood, where the ability of the range to produce fine 
lambs has been recognized. The Cotswold has 
worked great changes in Utah and some adjacent 
territory. Shropshires have been used in many 
places. Hampshires have been introduced also, and 
upon good ranges and in the hands of generous men, 
able to give good care and liberal feeding, they have 
proved worthy. 

THE DIVISION OF THE EANGES. 

There is at present a general move upon the part 
of sheep owners in these mountain regions to get 
in some way possession of parts of their ranges. 
They seek ownership of the summer range, or of 
parts of the fall and spring ranges, and are estab- 
lishing farms where forage may be cut and stored 
for winter use. There is a large body of good citi- 
zens engaged in the sheep industry in these regions 
and also unfortunately some of the most selfish and 
degraded of men. A nomadic sheep herd under the 
management of an ignorant, lawless and irrespon- 
sible man is a curse to any land over which it travels. 
It sheds off scab germs to infect other herds so un- 
fortunate as to follow in its trail, it pollutes streams, 
devastates young forests and destroys the range by 



FLOCK HUSBANDRY IN WESTERN STATES 227 

over-pasturing. It will indeed be a liappy day for 
all this region when the land is divided up, owned 
or leased by the cattle and sheep owners and the era 
of destruction of that beautiful land ends and re- 
construction begins again. It is a short-sighted pol- 
icy of our National Government that permits ranges 
to be devastated and refuses leases that would tend 
to preserve them and thus enrich all the community. 



These regions possess a distinct character and 
have a type of sheep husbandry of their own. They 
are characterized by very wide, well-grassed pla- 
teaus or plains, somewhat destitute of trees or brush 
and sometimes devoid of hills, canyons or natural 
shelter. The climate is much milder than it would be 
in a similar latitude in the eastern states, and while 
very low temperatures are often reached in winter, 
som^etimes with occasional blizzards, yet there are 
seldom deep or long-lying snows, and the abundance 
of grass renders it easy for the flocks to find sub- 
sistence. The grasses on these plains seem not so 
fattening as upon the mountains of Utah and Idaho, 
but are more abundant than those of regions to the 
southward and produce a fine class of sheep. In 
this region are found the larger types of Merinos, 
with often an infusion of Cotswold or Lincoln or 
Leicester blood, while mutton-bred rams of all types 
are used to produce market lambs. Sheep do not 
permanently injure the grasses of this region, and 
indeed when grazed with judgment, not to over- 



228 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

stock, the range is often benefited. In fact, some 
progressive ranclimen make it a practice to pasture 
cattle and slieep together and find that both thrive. 

PAKASITIC INFECTION OF THE KANGES. 

There is sometimes in this region, particularly in 
the Dakotas, sufficient humidity to make it possible 
for internal parasites to propagate and diffuse 
themselves through the flocks. Grievous losses from 
stomach worms are reported during bad seasons 
and tape worms have worked havoc over much of the 
region. 

These losses, however, are far less serious than 
occur in the states east of the Missouri River. 

FUTUKE OF THE NORTHEEN PLAINS REGION. 

This whole region is destined to be, the author 
believes, one vast pastoral expanse, dotted with 
sheep herds and given over very nearly, to the ex- 
clusion of other animals, to the sheep. It is the one 
part of the United States having abundant grass, 
admirable climate and soil capable of growing al- 
most any breed of sheep in perfection and with little 
loss from parasitic infection. 

There is, too, the advantage of an intelligent and 
progressive people embarked in the sheep industry 
and they have already shown by their work in sup- 
pressing scab over large parts of this region what 
they can and will accomplish. 

These plains do not produce as early or as fat 



FLOCK HUSBANDRY IN WESTERN STATES 



229 




230 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

lambs as tlie mountains southwest of them, but very 
superior feeding lambs come from these ranges. 

There was once small preparation made for win- 
ter feeding in this region. There is today a great 
deal of hay being put up, both of native and alfalfa 
sorts. When snow is deep ''snow plows" are used, 
which make bare strips along which the flocks feed. 
Sometimes corn is fed scattered on the ground. In 
some x)arts of this country the summer and winter 
ranges are distinct, the flocks climbing into the 
mountains during the heated season and relieving 
the range of their presence ; in other parts the moun- 
tains are too remote and the sheep use nearby parts 
of the range for both summer and winter grazing. 

Except on farms in the East there is no other part 
of the United States where much increase in num- 
bers of sheep kept can be made. Here double the 
numbers now kept may be and some day doubtless 
will be kept when the cattlemen turn sheep breeders. 

MANAGEMENT OF RANGE EAMS. 

The ''buck herd" is a necessary institution upon 
the range, and often a troublesome proposition it is. 
There are usually kept about 30 rams to the thou- 
sand ewes, though some growers use a larger num- 
ber. Various methods are adopted to keep these 
rams between breeding seasons. They are some- 
times pastured in a fenced pasture and corralled at 
night to keep them from coyotes. Sometimes they 
are herded where there are enough of them on a 
ranch to make a herd, and he must indeed be an 



FLOCK HUSBANDRY IN WESTERN STATES 231 

active and careful lierder wlio will lose none of 
tliem, since as fall days come on their instinct leads 
them to roam in search of ewes. 

Often several ranches will combine their forces 
and put all the rams together in one herd. Others 
will allow the rams to run with the ewes during win- 
ter and spring, separating them in summer when 
there might be danger of too early matings. 

Sometimes it is possible to put the rams in a 
wether herd, though wether bands are not nearly so 
common as they once were and many ranchers keep 
none at all, selling off all wether lambs or at most 
keeping them only till yearlings past. 

WHEKE THE KAMS COME FROM. 

The source of supply of range rams is principally 
from large growers of rams situated in various 
parts of the range country and in the valleys of 
California and Utah. Eastern Oregon produces 
thousands of magnificent rams mainly of Merino 
blood, approaching the Rambouillet type or purely 
of that blood. California sends many high-class 
Merino rams to the ranges. Utah and Idaho grow 
Merino, Cotswold and Hampshire rams by thou- 
sands with lesser numbers of other mutton breeds. 
Wyoming grows Merinos, Cotswolds, Leicesters and 
Hampshires. 

Range-bred rams are most serviceable on the 
range, having learned how to live there and being 
more muscular and hardy than eastern farm-grown 
sheep. There is, however, a steady stream of the 



232 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

best bred sires from eastern stud flocks going to 
reinforce the blood of the mountain stud flocks. Tiie 
day seems past when large numbers of eastern 
farm-grown rams will be used on common range 
herds since the western rams are in fairly abundant 
supply and are more efficient. 

THE BEEEDING SEASON. 

On the range rams are turned in usually to bring 
the lambs in late May or June. It is disastrous to 
lamb down before the herd is settled on good grass 
and where it may remain for some weeks with little 
driving. There is not the objection to late lambing 
on the range that there is on the farm, since the 
danger of parasitic infection is escaped in the range 
flock. This is principally from two causes: first, 
that the soil is usually too dry to permit the germs 
to develop upon it, and second, that the sheep are 
moved often and seldom return to graze over the 
same ground before an interval of weeks, months or 
a year. 

VIGOE OF EWES AND LAMBS. 

It is astonishing to see how little difficulty range 
ewes have in passing through the perils of lamb- 
birth. There seems seldom a case of wrong presen- 
tation and often not one ewe is lost from a thousand 
at lambing time. 

Then the lambs seem endowed with remarkable 
vigor at birth and not one of a thousand but will 
get up and find its mother's maternal fount without 



FLOCK HUSBANDRY IN WESTERN STATES 233 

aid from tlie shepherd. Indeed this is fortunate, 
seeing that he is generally remote from yards or 
fences, and to catch a range ewe is commonly a work 
of some difficulty. 

It is a lesson to the eastern farmer to see the re- 
markable viability and vigor of these range-born 
lambs, being an illustration of Nature's way of 
management to promote vigor and reproduction. 

THE BUSY SHEPHERD AT LAMBING TIME. 

A good shepherd will, however, be busy at lamb- 
ing time, for there are many little things to occupy 
his attention then. One of the most essential is to 
observe the ewes with spoiled udders and those hav- 
ing imperfect udders, made so perhaps by careless 
shearers who cut off the ends of the teats. These 
lose their lambs and should be caught, examined and 
marked so plainly that they can never escape the 
eyes of the master, when next the flock passes the 
assorting chute. 

THE COYOTE. 

Then there is the coyote pest. The coyote is a 
small wolf, not much larger than a big fox, but hav- 
ing a voracious appetite for lambs. To combat 
coyotes a number of methods are used, and all fail 
if persisted in, since the coyote is one of the most 
cunning beasts of prey in the world. Strychnine 
placed in carcasses found dead kill a good many, 
but some coyotes learn to avoid strychnine. The 
watchful shepherd gets a chance to shoot one now 
and then. Occasionally a coyote may be trapped. 



234 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

And greyliounds, or rather, special lioimds bred for 
the purpose, having the conformation of the grey- 
hounds with more size and better fighters, catch 
some of them. 

At lambing time, however, coyotes assemble, 
scenting a feast. Then the shepherd cannot avoid 
letting his flock spread over quite an area of range 
since to crowd the ewes close would be sure to make 
many orphan lambs. It helps to build fires about 
at various points, as though there were numerous 
camp fires, and the wary beasts, scenting danger, 
keep their distance. To hang out lanterns is a good 
practice, also. To patrol the flock almost ceaselessly 
with rifle in hand, firing it now and then, is the 
method most effective, and this is usually adopted 
by careful shepherds. It is necessary at this time 
to have help if available, and two or three men may 
keep themselves usefully employed about the lamb- 
ing flock. 

'^trimming'' the lambs. 

Lambing lasts usually only a week or two on the 
range, since the rams are not put in till late and the 
ewes soon come in heat and conceive. 

After the lambs have become strong they are ear^ 
marked, docked (unless they are to go to market, 
in which case their tails are sometimes left long), 
and castrated. 

They grow very rapidly if well born on good 
range. The shepherd has now some compensation 
for his pains and anxieties. His duties are com- 



FLOCK HUSBANDRY IN WESTERN STATES 



235 



paratively light, lie lias time to keep a neat camp, 
to limit a little for grouse or deer, and the flock 
itself is a source of great pleasure, if he is more 
than an indifferent hireling. In the evenings when 
the ewes have assembled, perhaps on the slope of 
some ravine, the lambs will disengage themselves 
from the flock, and withdrawing a little way will race 
up and down in mobs, a fuzzy flood, undulating over 




A SHEEP WAGON ON THE RANGE. 



the ground. Again some belligerents will square 
off and fight mock fights, butting by twos and threes 
until one decides that too rough a sport. Again 
there will be a game of leap frog, or ''follow your 
leader," and strings of lambs will race up over 
banks and rocks and jump stiff-legged down the 
other side. 

After a time some old ewe, feeling a pressure 
within her udder, will disens'ao^e herself from the 



236 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

rest and coming to the open will call anxiously for 
her lamb. As though a miracle some lamb will stop, 
listen, cease to play and, answering with a bleat, 
will come scampering across the ravine to her to get 
his evening meal. 

Curiously enough the ewe, though she has seen 
him a thousand times, refuses to believe that he is 
her rightful offspring until she has applied her in- 
fallible test, her nose. Scent tells her it is her own 
darling child, and she tranquilly allows him to milk 
her dry. 

SHEAEING ON THE KANGE. 

Shearing on the ranges occurs at different sea- 
sons, according to the conditions and character of 
the country. Usually on southern ranges it is be- 
fore lambing; at railway stations where the wool is 
readily shipped away. If, on the other hand, the 
ewes are shorn upon their summer range, they may 
be shorn after lambing. 

The shearers are roving groups of men, as needs 
must be, possessed of iron muscles and great deft- 
ness of hand. A good shearer will average 100 
sheep a day, for which he gets from seven to twelve 
cents per head. Nor must eastern shearers console 
themselves that these men do exceptionally rough or 
careless work; they shear on the average quite as 
well as the common shearers of the eastern states. 
Nor are their sheep as easily shorn as the general 
run of farm sheep in the East. Many a careful man 
has laid the foundation of his fortune by shearing 



FLOCK HUSBANDRY IN WESTERN STATES 237 

slieep on western ranges. An old friend of the 
writer, now known and honored throughout all that 
mountain region and one of the largest sheep own- 
ers, began ranch life as a shearer on California 
ranges. He now owns probably 50,000 sheep of his 
own. There are now a good many plants where ma- 
chine shears are in operation and their number is 
increasing; nevertheless there are many situations 
where the old hand shears will continue to be used. 

DIPPING. 

Dipping on the range should be a regular yearly 
or semi-annual practice. When it can be done it 
should follow shearing. Another practice is to dip 
when the lambs are weaned in the fall. The dipping- 
is done in a rapid manner by means of very long 
tanks or swimming vats, through which the sheep 
are crowded in rapid succession. A furnace adja- 
cent, with boilers, heats and cooks the dip used. 
Several thousand sheep are dipped in a day, accord- 
ing to the size of the plant. The dip most used is 
lime and sulphur, which is certainly when rightly 
compounded an efficient scab destroyer. 

The writer when engaged in sheep ranching on 
the hills and mesas of Utah did not use this dip, 
since it is injurious to the fleece and seemed not to 
eradicate the disease, but used instead one of the 
dips prepared from coal tar, using it strong and hot, 
and entirely eradicated scab from his range, so 
that it did not again reappear during his occupancy* 
of it. There is no doubt that scab can be entirely 



238 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

banisliecT from tlie ranges if men can be educated 
to it, and have instilled within them a living con- 
science that will lead them to do their plain duty 
toward themselves, their flocks and their neighbors. 
The obstacle to complete scab eradication is the 
ignorance and criminal indifference of the lower 
class of sheep owners, and the abettors of these 
criminals are often the state inspectors, who very 
often make of inspection a farce and give to their 
friends, or to others for a consideration, clean bills 
of health when scab is really widespread. To give 
them the benefit of a doubt, however, these inspect- 
ors very often would not be able to recognize a case 
of scab were they to see it except in the last stages. 
There is growing, however, a healthy sentiment, and 
sooner or later the neighboring ranchmen will them- 
selves take it upon them to see that scab is eradi- 
cated from their district and compel the indifferent 
to clean their flocks in self-defense. That done a 
great and unnecessary expense will be saved, since 
it will not be necessary to dip so often, only ticks 
being to combat, and a heavy cloud of apprehension 
will be removed from the sheep owner's mind and 
the shepherd's as well. 



There is in the minds of the public a deep-seated 
prejudice against the range shepherd, the ''sheep 
herder," and he is often regarded as being an ignor- 
ant, lazy, and generally degraded individual. There 
is doubtless here and there a man of that sort en- 



FLOCK HUSBANDRY IN WESTERN STATES 



239 



gaged ill herding sheep, but in the main the herders 
are men of character and intelligence. Their work 
develops within them quite different characteristics 
from those developed in the man who herds cattle, 
the ''vaqueros" who do their work on horseback. 

The shepherds acquire patience, thought and 
faithfulness. They develop endurance and stoicism. 




LINCOLN SHEARLINGS. 



Lacking the dash of the cowboys, they have greater 
capacity for enduring discomfort and fatigue. 

There are every year wonderful things done on 
the sheep ranges by these faithful herders. Storms 
come and blizzards blow and sometimes there is no 
shelter. Then the sheep cannot be restrained but 
drift aimlessly before the blast. Then the herders 
forsaking their tents and the comfort and shelter 



240 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

to be found therein follow the shee^J, striving to 
keep them together and if possible to lead them at 
last to a safe shelter, perhaps among pines or be- 
hind protecting cliffs and hills. 

Oftentimes these storms endure for several days 
and the shepherd may find no refuge nor help until 
at last he is overcome with weariness and cold and 
lies down in the snow for rest. Here he is found, 
sometimes yet alive, and more often frozen to death. 
There is hardly a winter that there are not a num- 
ber of herders lost in storms and there have been 
single storms that counted their dead by scores. 
The writer knows one old man, a fine herder he is, 
who had been found buried in a snowdrift beside 
his flock, miles from the camp, so frozen that he lost 
all the fingers of both hands, only one thumb re- 
maining. This old man, after the terrible experi- 
ence, calmly resumed his occupation, and even man- 
aged to live alone and make camp in his crippled 
condition. 

Men of foreign birth often make excellent herders 
for the range country. Germans excel, Portuguese 
are reputed good herders, Andalusians have a repu- 
tation in parts of California, a Chinaman has been 
known to become a skilled shepherd, and Mexicans 
have their virtures, among them a doglike fidelity, 
though they are not reputed so daring and resolute 
in time of stress as men of northern climes. And 
now and then a lad of American stock excels. Scots 
are found everywhere among them, and everywhere 
in the lead, having a heritage of sheep-keeping an- 



FLOCK HUSBANDRY IN WESTERN STATES 241 

cestry and tradition that differentiates them from 
men of other nationalities. 

UPS AND DOWNS OF THE BUSINESS. 

It is to be regretted that the range sheep industry 
has such remarkable ups and downs. There will be 
a series of years when flocks on the ranges make 
their owners very large profits. As, for instance, if 
a thousand ewes cost the owner $3,000 and thirty 
rams will cost maybe $300 more. The expense of 
keeping them will vary greatly, but may be as low 
as 60 to 75 cents per head, or say, $772.50. It has 
been known that the thousand ewes would drop and 
rear a thousand lambs, but cutting this down to 
850, they sometimes sell for as much as $3 each on 
the range, or $2,550. Then the fleeces have sold re- 
cently for more than a dollar per head, or $1,030 
more, leaving a paper profit of $2,807.50 on an in- 
vestment in sheep of but $3,000. 

However, as there will needs be some ewes die 
and rams to be replenished, we can take off the 
$807.50 to put with the herd and still leave a nice 
dividend. 

On the other hand, when times are good and sheep 
prices high the wary operators are willing to sell, 
and men with moderate or small amounts of capital 
buy, giving mortgages on all they possess for se- 
curity. Thereafter (and oft-times soon) things hap- 
pen! Wool declines in price, lambs go begging, 
hard seasons come and the men find themselves 
often involved in absolute ruin. It is related dur- 



242 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

iiig* tlie last slumxj in sheep values, about 1894, in 
Texas a rancher started to Chicago with a trainload 
of sheep. He got drunk in Kansas City and the 
sheep went on without him, sold, hut not for enough 
to pay the freight. He therefore received a letter 
from his commission firm asking him to remit for 
the freight, and they in turn received a telegram 
from him saying, ''I have no money. Am sending 
on more sheep.'' 

THE HOPEFUL OUTLOOK. 

The writer believes, however, that the days of 
ruinous prices for sheep are over. The capacity of 
our country to consume sheep has grown very enor- 
mously. The mutton-eating habit, once formed, is 
retained. Mutton is indeed an economical meat to 
buy, since in chops one can buy small amounts more 
easily than in beefsteaks ; thus the high price does 
not so much count. And mutton, especially lamb 
mutton, is consumed by the well-to-do — a steadily 
increasing class in our country. It is hard to be- 
lieve that there will ever again be such a Waterloo 
as the last decade of the Nineteenth Century 
brought. And yet the writer wishes to prevent his 
friends from rushing needlessly to buy when prices 
are the highest, and to caution th-em from following 
the example of the Texan and giving their flocks 
away merely because they are temporarily de- 
pressed. 

A WORK TO BE DOXE. 

There is a great work remaining to be done on 
our ranges — that is, to build up the quality of the 



Fr/JCK HUSBANDRY IX WESTERN STATES 243 

flocks till llioy approae]j iu exceiJenco Ujo quality of 
the flocks of New Zealand and Argentina. The 
writer once in Dejitford Market, where the live cat- 
tle and sheep sent to London from foreign ports 
are slaughtered, was shocked to see how much better 
were the strangers ' sheep than those of his brethren. 
Needless to say that the good sheep brought much 
the better prices. 

To thus ux^build our range flocks needs a steady 
inflow of the best rams, mainly of Rambouillet and 



AN ILLINOIS FEKDING AND .SHIPPING YARD. 

the larger, smoother Delaine type, and the crossing 
of their produce with rams of Lincoln, Cots wold and 
Leicester blood. 

Such cross-breeding needs, to be a success, great 
study and attention, and of course with finer ani- 
mals comes always need for better feed and care, 
for provision of forage for winter and cessation of 
long and fruitless journeyings. These things will 
come; the great plains and grassy mesas and green 
forested mountains will soon be covered with flocks 



244 SHEEP FAR-MING IN AMERICA 

of far better slieep than tliey hold today, and by some 
sort of peaceable division of the ranges each rancher 
will know where he may graze and where he may 
save grass with sure expectation of feeding it him- 
self in time of need. 

SHEEP ADVANCE CATTLE KETKEAT. 

It is the opinion of the writer that the cattle will 
steadily retreat before the peaceable advance of 
sheep, since sheep are best fitted for this region and 
bring far more profit. There will always be room, 
however, for some cattle, and they will be found to 
thrive alongside the sheep when the day of intelli- 
gent grazing and range management has been 
reached. 

WINTER FEEDING OF SHEEP AND LAMBS. 

The writer does not think it worth while to devote 
much space to describing the best methods of feed- 
ing native lambs in winter, for the reason that 
natives (those born on eastern farms) ought to be 
fat and sold before winter has set in. If they are 
not fat it may very likely be because they are in- 
fected with some depressing parasite, such as stom- 
ach worms or nodular disease, and in that case are 
hardly worth fattening at all. In his own practice 
he has abandoned feeding native lambs entirely 
since his own lambs, born upon the farm, are fat 
and sold before July, and natives he buys give him 
almost certain trouble. 

It may be said, however, that if one is to feed 



FLOCK HUSBANDRY IN WESTERN STATES 



245 




246 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

native lambs he should select them if possible with 
an eye to getting, the good ones, those in health. 
These are easily discovered. They show their health 
by the vigor of their action, the quickness of their 
movements, the brightness of their eyes and if ex- 
amined closely the pinkness of their skins. Those 
that are drooping or that show white chalky skins, 
signs of diarrhea and have dead-looking fleeces are 
surely infected with worms and if they cannot be 
discarded they should be treated before being put 
on feed. 

It is not well to turn feeding lambs out on pas- 
ture when they are brought home. They will gain 
little on pasture in the fall, unless it be some special 
sowed crop such as rape or vetches ; and to turn the 
lambs on the grass pastures usually results in gnaw- 
ing the grass to the ground without putting on any 
gain as compensation. It is therefore best to put 
them directly into the feedlot and to begin feeding 
them on dry hay, or other forage. 

NECESSITY FOE DIPPING. 

Earlier in this book directions are given for dip- 
ping and the reasons why. We will here repeat and 
emphasize the fact that all sheep that have been 
shipped on railway cars or penned in railway yards 
are very apt to be infected with germs of scab. If 
they have no scab germs they almost surely have 
ticks on them. Ticks will fatten in the same shed 
with sheep but the sheep will suffer. Ticks find 
slow sale in the market place. Scab, if it breaks 



FLOCK HUSBANDRY IX WESTERX STATES 217 

out (luring tke feeding season, is ruinous and will 
entail great loss unless promptly suppressed. The 
longer diiDping is delayed tlie more costly it is be- 
cause of the greater amount of material required, 
because of the greater degree of exposure when the 
weather is colder, and because the animal after 
being on feed suffers a greater shock and has a 
worse set-back than when dipped on its arrival at 
the feedyard. 

Lambs that are sent out from the larger centers 
of distribution, such as Chicago, Omaha and Kansas 
City, are dipped under Federal supervision before 
they leave the yards. This dipping should preclude 
the necessity of further dipping at home unless in 
the case of very well-advanced cases of scab. Such 
instances of diseased sheep are much less numerous 
than they once were, thanks to a rather determined 
scab campaign by flock-owners on the ranges. The 
dipping at the Chicago yards has for several years 
been so thorough that the writer has ceased to again 
dip the lambs received from that place. He feels, 
however, that he is running considerable risk by this 
neglect, since it is only a question of time when care- 
nessness or ^' graft" will send out again strings of 
imperfectly dipped lambs from these very yards. 
This has, at least, been the history of the past. One 
winter some years ago the writer trusting to the 
dipping there received had the distressing experi- 
ence of having to dii3 every sheep upon the farm in 
midwinter. 

It is safer then not to rely upon the dipping at 



248 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

the yards, but to clip carefully upon arrival, or as 
soon thereafter as the lambs have rested and recov- 
ered their strength. Until that time if the weather 
be good it is wise to turn the sheep into pasture, 
where they may find water and grass and rest suffi- 
cient to recruit them. Then, as soon as rested, they 
should be dipped and put at once into their perma- 
nent quarters, if they are to be fed in yards or 
sheds. 

SELECTION OF FEEDERS. 

A visit to one of our great stockyards is a most 
interesting experience. There are seen there sucli 
a multitude of sheep of almost every sort and de- 
scription. There are great bands of fat western 
wethers, noble sheep, some of them of an astonish- 
ing uniformity in size and character. They are 
^^ strong almost as horses,'' used all their lives to 
roaming over the plains and mountains. These may 
go for export, or to the killers. They are too fat to 
feed and would cost too much. And yet they are 
not so fat as the sheep that come in winter and 
spring from the feedlots. They are just right to 
give the most profit to the killers, with enough fat 
and little waste. 

Beside them will be a band of thinner wethers, 
perhaps from a dried-up range, of fairly good qual- 
ity. They, too, will go to the killers, though they 
are almost thin enough to sell at a farmer's price. 
The next pen may show some ideal feeders, big and 
strong and active, yet in thin flesh. Probably it did 



FLOCK HUSBANDRY IN WESTERN STATES 



249 



o 

o O 

> w 

= > 



2 i 

P 
(D 




250 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

not rain on their range, or they traveled too far. 
The killers pass them by and the feeder gets them 
at a cent or more off. 

In the next pen will be seen a different type 
altogether, a band of wild, scared, thin, sharp- 
backed, weazened sheep, looking as though all the 
plagues of Egypt had struck them. They are the 
product of an ignorant and stingy owner, a careless 
and unprofitable shepherd and a starved and over- 
pastured range, together with a dearth of rain and 
snow. No one wants them and they sell very low 
indeed. Sometimes they are great bargains, and if 
carefully nursed for a few months will lay on flesh 
fairly well and being bought so cheaply will reward 
well their feeder. There is, however, the disadvan- 
tage of having your yards filled with stuff of whicli 
you are ashamed till near the last of the feeding sea- 
son. They are more likely to make money for their 
feeder than the good feeders because they are 
bought so cheaply and weigh so little. 

However, if there is not at home plenty of good 
clover or alfalfa hay, or if the feeder is not willing 
to buy for them wheat bran and a trifle of oilmeal, if 
they must be fattened on corn and cornstalks mainly 
it is doubtful if they are of the class that he should 
buy. Emaciation calls for food rich in protein. 
With plenty of early-cut alfalfa hay in the mow 
these thin sheep may bring profit. They are of no 
value for a short feed. They require time to first 
restore their strength and afterward to rebuild, or 
perhaps build their flesh and afterward to lay on fat. 



FLOCK HUSBANDRY IN WESTERN STATES 251 

Unless one can buy at a low price per pound it 
is unwise to buy the emaciated ones, seeing that his 
profit comes largely from a hoped-for advance on 
the purchase price, and it costs money to build flesh 
in the feedlot. 

There is, however, another range of conditions to 
be considered when selecting our feeders. That is 
the breeding of the sheep. Here is a pen of very 
heavily fleeced wethers, or lambs. They will shear 
very heavy, but they are not of the best form. They 
have thin necks and drooping sharp shoulders and a 
look of meekness and depression. Shall we take 
them? In the next pen is a lot with evidence of 
mutton blood on the Merino. They are lighter 
fleeced, but stronger. As a rule the very heavily 
fleeced sheep are not the best money-makers. They 
will not eat so well nor make so good gains. Nature 
specializes ; the food goes to flesh or it goes to fleece 
and oil in the wool. Large, strong, moderately well- 
wooled sheep feed best — a little too much wool will 
not hurt. It is only the exceedingly heavy fleece that 
is to be avoided. 

Now visit the lamb pens. The wethers have run 
very even and have required little assorting. The 
lambs are even also, but there is with them a few 
culls so that the buyer for the great packers usually 
reserves the Hght to discard 10, 20, 30, or maybe 
more of each lot. These are after a time thrown 
together probably into a load of feeders. The lambs 
are in character about what the wethers were, 
though they have suffered more in transit and are 



252 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

not SO strong. Again we see the bidders bidding 
high for the tops. Then goes np a sigh as you re- 
linquish them, and you look on down the line. Ah ! 
Here are the beauties! They are from Merino 
mothers, evidently, and their sires were Shrop- 
shires, or maybe Lincolns or Cotswolds and they 
are small and in rather thin flesh, so there is a 
chance. They have been born late and their tops 
have been selected and sold, these younger ones re- 
maining. 

If we get them we have done well. They will 
grow and fatten admirably and be our pride and joy 
all through the feeding season. When fat they will 
command the top price. If we buy them we will take 
350 (which fills a car) or maybe 700 or 1,050, and 
we may need to buy some smaller lots to make the 
number come out even. 

But hold! Those lambs were after all priced 
pretty high, and here are some lively little fellows, 
not so well bred, quite, but yet giving evidence of 
good blood. They are late born and small, pretty 
thin, too, weighing less than 50 pounds. What of 
them! It depends upon what is stored at home in 
the barn. If there is abundance of good alfalfa, if 
there are silage and perhaps roots, and loving care 
and generous shelter and long time, take them! 
They are the best. But if the feeding season must 
be short, if there is little clover or alfalfa, take the 
other lot. 

And here is yet another sort. They must have 
come from a terrible range where grief has been 



FLOCK PIUSBANDRY IN WESTERN STATES 253 

tlieir constant i:)ortion. They are miserably thin and 
weak and were ill-bred at the beginning. Their one 
redeeming feature is that they weigh little and will 
be sold for a very small price per pound. Shall we 
venture to buy them? That also depends upon the 
furnishings at home. Many of them may die before 
they gain enough strength to enable them to go on 
and gain. They will require a long feeding period. 
But when they are fat they will sell for nearly as 
much as the best-bred lambs in the market. There 
is that peculiar side to the lamb trade : the light 
lambs of part Mexican type when rightly fed sell 
well. So if we have the feed, the kindness and com- 
forts at home, we may venture to take even these 
weaklings. But let us beware of them if we propose 
to ^^ rough them'' or try to hasten them along by a 
short period of heavy feeding. 

Here is yet another opportunity. In these small- 
er pens are a lot of thin natives, from some near- 
by state. They are big enough, but their lack-luster 
eyes and sunken wool and general air of discourage- 
ment speak surely of an internal revenue depart- 
ment held under the rule of predatory parasite 
worms. If these lambs had been in health they 
would have been fat in nine cases out of ten, and 
the killers would have taken them in. Avoid them 
unless you understand treating them and eradicat- 
ing the worms. Thin western lambs do not often 
have these parasites because on their drier ranges 
the diseases do not lodge nor spread. And yet 
lambs from some of the more eastern ranges, in the 



254 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

Dakotas, Nebraska and occasionally from Montana, 
come now and then infected. Before you buy tliese 
thin lambs look at their skins. If they are chalky 
pass them by. 

Here are ewes. This band of old ewes, in thin 
flesh, show evidences of fairly good breeding. They 
have a motherly look, too. We find that we can buy 
them cheaply. What can we do with them? 

Let us look first at their teeth. Ah, I thought so ! 
A large number of them have lost their front teeth. 
This means two or three things. It accounts for 
their being sent from range to market. They have 
been culled out because they no longer could sub- 
sist well on the tough grasses and herbage of the 
range. It accounts mainly for their emaciation. 
And it means to you : Am I in position to take good 
care of these old ewes! These ewes may not be 
too old to make a good recovery under favorable 
conditions; they may even drop a strong crop of 
lambs and nourish them well, but they must eat 
more costly food than ewes that have their teeth. 

They ought to have bran, oats, shelled corn and 
early-cut, tender hay. But they are for sale, and at 
a low price. If it is early enough so that we can 
breed them to good rams we may do this ; take them 
home and at once mate them with the best rams of 
Shropshire, Southdown, Hampshire, Dorset or 
whatever we fancy that we can get and then carry 
them along well, not forcing too much till after the 
lambs are born, and after that with judgment and 
discretion pouring into them all the good nourish- 



FLOCK HUSBANDRY IN WESTERN STATES 255 

iiig stuff tliat we can get them to consume. It will 
astonisli iis liow those lamhs will grow, and the 
beauty of them, coming from these skinny old ewes, 
but they may be soon sent off fat to market and the 
mothers will have gained in flesh all the time, and 
in about two months' more feeding will be ready to 
go after their lambs. This is good practice and 
only requires the right combination of careful han- 
dling, with skill in feeding, warm, well-ventilated 
barns and an assortment of feeds with wise gener- 
osity in carrying it out to make the thing pay. In 
fact, this has been done. One hundred ewes have 
been bought in Chicago for $175. They have 
dropped and raised 90 lambs that sold at about 10 
to 14 weeks' of age for over $5.00 each. The ewes 
sheared, under this good care, above 7 pounds each 
and the wool sold for 25c. Then the ewes finally 
fattened and weighed 112 pounds, selling for 5c per 
pound. Thus the ewe that cost $1.75 in Chicago 
sold, with her wool and lamb, for $11.85 in late 
May. This was an exceptionally favorable result, 
however, achieved by an assemblage of favoring 
conditions of low first cost, fairly good quality, good 
sires, wise and generous treatment and a booming 
spring market. Let the indifferent shepherd, or the 
one having ear corn and timothy hay, beware of 
these broken-mouthed ewes ; they will undo him 
every time. This is one of the first lessons to be 
learned in successful flock husbandry. 

There is danger that these ewes may part of them 
be already with lamb to some inferior range ram. 



256 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

These lambs will not usually fatten off at an early 
age and may materially affect tlie result. 

Let us digress here to consider for a moment a 
proposition having in it great possibilities of profit 
for the feeder and offering to the rancher a ready 
means of disposing of his aging ewe stuff without 
too much sacrifice. The rancher may cull out his 
aged ewes before they have reached too decrepit a 
condition, discarding any that have spoiled udders 
0% defective teats, and putting them on the best and 
tenderest grass he can find. Put with them good 
blocky mutton rams as early as possible in sum- 
mer. He ought to get a down or Dorset ram for 
this purpose, since the long-wools do not get lambs 
fattening best at a very early age. 

Then he can sell the ewes, bred, to men who make 
a business of fattening winter lambs, and get a great 
deal more for them than it has cost him to give 
them this treatment. The writer several years ago 
called the attention of sheep growers and feeders 
to the possibilities of this practice and it has already 
been begun in a small way with the probability that 
the practice will become more common as the ad- 
vantage becomes known, and especially as western 
sheep ranching narrows down to a state of settled 
practice of good methods. 

The age when a ewe should be discarded varies 
considerably with the breed and also with the dis- 
trict where she is kept and the manner of keeping. 
In England among the Dorset breeders it is the cus- 
tom to take three or four crops of lambs by a Dorset 



FLOCK HUSBANDRY IN WESTERN STATES 257 

ram, then to breed them to a down (Hampshire, 
Shropshire or Sussex), and sell them in lamb to go 
away to men who make it a practice to buy these 
ewes, grow from them one or two crops of lambs 
and send them fat to market. In America it can 
hardly be said that there is any established system 
anywhere, and the more usual method is simply to 
continue to use the ewe so long as her teeth are 
good, disposing of her then for what she will bring. 




A SHOW OF COTSWOLDS. 

There is something to be said for this practice, 
though undoubtedly when we have settled down to 
a good and regular system of management, when 
we have formed a habit of good management, we 
will turn off our ewes young enough so that they 
may be finished easily into prime mutton and will 
not have become ''shelly." The number of lambs 
that can be taken from a ewe varies somewhat with 
the breed. Those that mature quickly the sooner 



258 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

lose their usefulness. Merinos taking long time to 
mature are sometimes productive for 16 years or 
more. Downs and Dorsets are usually past their 
usefulness at ten years. In general it is good prac- 
tice to discard ewes upon farms at about the age of 
six to eight years. To return to our yards: there is 
a vastness about it and a bewilderment that appalls 
the man fresh from tranquil fields where a flock of 
500 sheep seems large. On some single days there 
will be received at the big markets as many as 35,- 
000, or even more, and in a single brief forenoon 
most of them will be sold and many of them dis- 
persed, some to the killers and some to the dipping 
vat and on cars again to go out to country feeders. 
It is a confusing place to the countryman and he is 
wise to choose some skilled commission man to go 
with him and make his purchases, helping, too, in 
making selections. 

It is not always wise for the feeder to go in per- 
son to buy in the market, though he should make it 
a point to be there once or twice a year to study 
types and results of other men if possible. Contact 
of this kind with the market is very helpful. 

The advantage in leaving the purchase altogether 
to an honest and capable commission man (there 
are such in most markets) is that the commission 
man may take advantage of heavy runs and de- 
pressed markets to secure for the feeder his sup- 
plies at the lowest price. Naturally when the man 
goes himself to the market place he desires to make 
his purchase and get away whether conditions seem 



FLOCK HUSBANDRY IN WESTERN STATES 259 

to liim right or not. His impatience may therefore 
cost him dear. 

It is a good plan to set a price that you are will- 
ing to pay for the class of sheep that you decide to 
feed and, carefully describing your wishes, state tlie 
case to your commission man, leaving the order with 
him to be filled when he can. It may happen that 
you are too low and your bid may need to be raised, 
or the stuff may cost you less than you had expected 
to pay. 

The feeder may if he desires go in person to the 
ranges and make his selections there, bringing his 
purchases directly home. Thus he will get the best 
and get them home fresher than did they lie around 
in stockyards awaiting purchasers. The practical 
disadvantage of this, however, is that on the range 
the buyer must pay the rancher's price; if the sheep 
go on to market he sets the price himself. 

It is especially desirable in buying on the range 
that the purchaser should take care to weigh at least 
a portion of the stuff and make due allowance for 
shrinkage in shipment, else he may buy very dearly 
without being aware. In advising the feeder to be- 
ware of thin native feeders the writer is aware that 
he is prejudicing his very subject and aim — the 
building up of flocks of natives in all the regions east 
of the great ranges. It must be remembered, however, 
that in most of this region food is so abundant, both 
of grass and grain, that almost any sheep in health 
will be fat when it goes to the market, and there- 
fore snapped up eagerly by the killers, except those 



260 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

that are parasitic and therefore difficult to make 
fat. He hopes and believes that the day will come 
when this condition will be overcome and sheep will 
be found as healthy on farms as on ranges, but even 
then they will go fat to market instead of going to 
swell the supply of feeders. 

FEEDING OF LAMBS. 

Let us now take up in detail the work of lamb 
feeding, having by this time purchased our supply 
of feeders, or having grown them ourselves. Meth- 
ods of lamb feeding vary widely according to the 
district where they are fed. "We will consider the 
several ways in detail. 



CHAPTER IX. 
WESTERN LAMB FEEDING. 

PEA FEEDING IN COLORADO. 

In the San Luis valley of Colorado a very curious 
method of fattening lambs has within recent years 
grown to large proportions. This valley lies very 
high, so high indeed that alfalfa does not thrive as 
it does elsewhere in the irrigated valleys of the 
West. But Nature evens up things and here is 
found the natural home of the field, or Canadian, 
pea. The soil and climate seem admirably suited to 
the growth of peas. Indeed it is said that nowhere 
else in the world do peas thrive so well. The soil is 
somewhat alkaline; full, too, of mineral riches, and 
the abundant irrigation and cool mountain air as- 
sure a good growth and a very heavy fruiting. The 
methods of culture are easy and simple : after being 
drilled into the soil and irrigated (sometimes with 
cultivation and sometimes without) they soon cover 
the ground and need no more attention. The cli- 
mate is so dry that the crop may stand sometimes 
without waste until it is consumed. The harvesting 
is simple in the extreme. Lambs are bought and 
turned in, where they remain until the crop is har- 
vested and the lambs are fat. There is no need of 

(261) 



262 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

other forage than the dried pea vines give, nor of 
other grain than the peas. Gains on this ration are 
very large and the quality of mutton produced un- 
excelled. The growth of this new industry has been 
very rapid indeed, since practically the first efforts 
were made in the winter of 1901-1902, when ahout 
3,000 lambs were fed, and it is said that in the win- 
ter of 1904-1905 160,000 fat lambs left the San Luis 
and adjacent valleys of Colorado. It is probable, 
too, that this is the beginning of the industry, for 
there are doubtless other valleys in Colorado high 
enough, cool enough and dry enough to grow peas 
well, and so of Utah, Idaho and Wyoming. 

CANADIAN PEAS FOR LAMB FEEDING. 

The Canadian field pea is similar to the common 
garden pea. It has no relationship to the southern 
cowpea. The Canadian pea thrives during cool and 
moist weather ; it grows a large vine and sets freely 
with peas. All animals relish peas, which are not 
only delicious to the taste but very nutritious. Peas 
are very rich in protein, having in fact about the 
same composition as milk, minus the water. Peas 
are easily digested. 

Not all regions are adapted to the growth of the 
field pea. In the cornbelt they thrive if they can 
be sown early enough, but then they must be prompt- 
ly fed as a soiling crop or else cured into hay. Oats 
and peas mixed make a first-rate soiling crop and 
have been much used. 

Late sown peas in warm or dry regions have little 



WESTERN LAMB FEEDING 263 

value. The great pea regions are in Canada, in 
northern Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota, in 
New England and northern New York, and now, 
more recently, in the high valleys of the Eocky 
Mountains. 

PEAS IN THE SAN LUIS VALLEY. 

The *^ Sunny San Luis" is a wide and fertile val- 
ley about 7,500 feet high in southern Colorado. It 
has a long, cold but dry and sunny winter, a spring 
lasting for most of the rest of the year. The nights 
are always cool in the San Luis. The valley is abun- 
dantly irrigated by a peculiar system. The soil is 
soaked by long-continued furrow irrigation till the 
^^sub" or underground water level rises nearly to 
the surface. Thus, even in a dry climate, there is 
moisture in abundance for the coolness and mois- 
ture-loving peas. 

The San Luis Valley was primarily devoted to 
wheat growing. Peas were first planted to rebuild 
the depleted soils. This they did, and incidentally 
in order to consume some of them and get rid of 
them sheep were turned in. The sheep throve as- 
tonishingly. When lambs were put on the peas they 
grew fat with astonishingly little care or expense. 
Now lambs feeding on peas is a large business in 
the San Luis Valley each year. 

The usual method is to grow the peas by sowing 
broadcast and letting them mature, turning in the 
lambs in the fall, sometimes as early as October, 
sometimes earlier. The lambs gather the peas from 



264 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

the vines and eat more or less of the forage. The 
fields are usually fenced and the lambs turned loose, 
from 500 to 2,000 in a lot. At night they are usually 
corralled to protect them from coyotes. 

When the weather remains dry there is no great 
waste of peas by feeding in this manner. With 
snow, however, there is danger that the forage will 
become greatly damaged and more or less of the 
peas lost. 

It is not an economical way to utilize peas at best 
because the lambs travel too much in gathering 
them and by their restlessness fail to put on flesh 
as they would were they confined to a small feed- 
lot. The advantage of feeding the peas where they 
grow is, however, twofold. There is saved all the 
labor of harvesting them and the manure is scat- 
tered as it is made and thus the field is enriched. 
Where labor is scarce and dear as it often is in Colo- 
rado these are important considerations. 

There is another way that makes a fair com- 
promise between harvesting and feeding the peas 
in a yard and letting them lie where they grow, that 
is to cut them with a mower and cock them up in 
rather large cocks, then letting the lambs run to 
them. It would seem that this was a good scheme, 
especially if the lambs have a shepherd with a dog 
so that they may be kept from running over the 
whole field at one time. There would be practically 
no waste in feeding by this plan, especially as pigs 
would follow the lambs and pick up what they left 
uneaten. 



WESTERN LAMB FEEDING 



265 




266 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

Undoubtedly the greatest number of pounds of 
mutton could be gotten from an acre of peas by bar- 
vesting them and stacking them as alfalfa is stacked, 
and feeding them in corrals as alfalfa-fed lambs are 
fed. It would no doubt pay also to feed some sup- 
plementary grain in troughs, so as to let the lambs 
consume nearly all of the pea forage and still have 
grain enough to make the proportion of concen- 
trates to roughness a just one. In this manner 
about twice as many lambs can be fattened from 
a field of peas as by the simple process of leaving 
the peas lie where they grow and the lambs to har- 
vest them at will. 

AMOUNT OF LAMB MUTTON FKOM AN ACRE OF PEAS. 

The pea feeding industry is yet in its infancy, and 
no one knows exactly what can be done with an acre 
of peas. Undoubtedly the greater number of pea 
feeders fail to make the most of their opportunities 
because of poor methods. They let the peas dam- 
age by lying in the snow, or they overstock and 
have not enough peas to finish their lambs, or they 
let the lambs run off in travel and lose flesh that 
should remain on their ribs. Peas gathered and fed 
in quiet should give about these results. 

An acre of peas may yield 30 bushels of shelled 
peas. Probably that is above the average yield, yet 
it is not unusual for San Luis peas to exceed that. 
A bushel of peas weighs 64 pounds. 

An acre of peas in the San Luis Valley may yield 
1,800 pounds of shelled peas. This is doubtless 



WESTERN LAMB FEEDING 267 

above the average, but many surpass that yield. 
Peas are exceedingly digestible when fed whole to 
lambs, so it is probable that 3, or at most Si/o pounds 
of peas would make a pound of gain, if the forage 
was good and the conditions right. Thus an acre 
yielding 1,800 pounds of peas should make from 500 
to 600 pounds of mutton. 

While there is no doubt that some careful feed- 
ers, using some supplementary grain and feeding in 
corrals, will reach this high mark, yet at present 
under the easy method of turning the lambs directly 
upon the peas, not more than 100 to 175 pounds of 
.lamb are secured, and about 100 pounds of pork 
from the pigs that follow the lambs. The death loss 
from feeding peas is said to be exceedingly light. 
The quality of the mutton so produced is very high. 
The peas also greatly enrich the ground on which 
they grow. The best method of feeding these peas 
would seem to include putting on them only 
good lambs, and to put them on as early as the peas 
are nearly mature. There will always be a demand 
for good pea-fed lambs at a premium, and the com- 
moner sorts of lambs should be fed elsewhere. 
There are other regions where peas may be grown 
and fed with profit provided they are harvested and 
stacked. There are few places where the winter 
climate will permit feeding them on the ground 
where they grow as is done in the San Luis valley. 
But there are many high parks and mountain val- 
leys in Colorado, Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, 
and other western states where peas thrive admir- 



268 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

ably and only the winter's snowfall prevents their 
being fed as readily as in the San Luis Valley. There 
is no better feed for old ewes, or for lambing ewes, 
than peas. The whole plant has a similar compo^ 
sition to milk, it rebuilds wasted tissue and creates 
new flesh. 

ALFALFA-FED COLOEADO LAMBS. 

The front range of the Eockies sends forth a 
number of refreshing streams, creeks and rivers, 
from the Animas river at Trinidad up to the Ar- 
kansas in middle Colorado and the forks of the 
Platte at Fort Collins. Early in the settlement of 
Colorado it was learned that alfalfa grew wonder- 
fully well on the plains, where, supplied with water 
by irrigation, the difficulty seemed to be to use the 
alfalfa. Finally some man tried feeding it to sheep, 
then to lambs; grain was fed with it. A few car- 
loads of the lambs went to eastern markets; the 
killers tried them and pronounced them extraordi- 
narily good and the Colorado lamb industry was 
born. 

Colorado lamb feeding has had its ups and downs. 
In the winter of 1898-1899 the feeders lost nearly 
all the hay they put into the lambs, getting back 
only the manure and pay for the corn bought in 
Nebraska. In other years they have made very 
large profits. At intervals they have tried feeding 
other things — calves, wethers, and ewes to lamb in 
the feedlot. The wethers and calves are mostly 
eliminated now and lambs are fed on an ever-in- 



WESTERN LAMB FEEDING 269 

creasing scale. It is a settled industry, not without 
its risks, yet as certain of profit as any feeding 
business can well be. 

Colorado lambs are the product of Colorado al- 
falfa and Kansas and Nebraska corn. There is 
sometimes a little locally-grown wheat or barley fed, 
when it is cheap enough, but shelled corn and alfalfa 
form probably 95 per cent of the foods used. 

In early days the Colorado feeders depended al- 
most altogether upon the lambs of New Mexico and 
southern Colorado for a supply of feeders. The 
reputation of Fort Collins' lambs, was made first 
with these Mexicans. In more recent years lambs 
have come there from other regions, notably from 
Utah and Wyoming. The process of feeding lambs 
in Colorado is admirably simple. There are yards 
built of six-inch boards, with cracks between them 
wide enough to permit the lambs to thrust their 
heads in and eat between them. Hay is then piled 
along these fences right on the ground (which is 
usually dry in that sunny clime) and the lambs eat 
it standing with their necks through the fence. Two 
or three times a day men go along and throw the 
hay up afresh. The hay is drawn from great ricks 
standing in the alfalfa meadows. Little of it is ever 
put in barns, which hardly exist in the sense that 
they are used in the East. 

Grain is fed in flat-bottomed troughs in the yards. 
There is often an arrangement of yards so that one 
may be used as a feeding yard for two or more pens. 
In that way the grain may be put in before the 



270 



SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 



slieep are admitted. When the gates are opened 
they come in with a rush. 

When first the lambs are received they are care 
fully dipped and then given, usually, a preparatory 
course of alfalfa feeding before having any grain. 
When they are introduced to corn it is fed in very 
small amounts, slowly and steadily increased until 




RACKS FOR FEEDING GRAIN. 
Photo from Wilcox, 1902 Year Book, Bureau Animal Industry, U. S. Dept. Agr. 

finally they are eating about all they desire. That 
amount will be between two and three bushels per 
day to the hundred head. It is found best to feed 
corn in regular rations two or three times a day 
rather than to use ^'self feeders,'' such as are used 
in the Northwest for feeding light screenings. 
These self feeders, by the way, are merely bins hav- 



WESTERN LAMB FEEDING 



271 



ing' trouglis at the lower edges on eacli side, with 
narrow openings through which the screenings de- 
scend. 

Very few of the Colorado feedyards have sheds 
attached to shelter the lambs. Little rain falls and 
the snow is light and dry. Windbreaks are found 




BOX RACK FOR FEEDING ALFALFA. 
From Bnlletin 31, Bureau Plant Industry, U. S. Department of Agriculture. 

desirable. Water is pumped by wind power and 
supplied abundantly in troughs, which are kept 

clean. 

Most of the Colorado lambs are sent to market 
with their fleeces on. The gains secured are excel- 
lent, lambs weighing 55 pounds when put on feed 
often weighing 85 pounds when ripe, and better 



272 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

gains are sometimes secured. Tliey come to the 
markets of Kansas City, Omaha and Chicago in solid 
trainloads, and owing to their good quality and 
even ripeness they sell at the top of the market. 

There seems a distinct quality of goodness dif- 
fused through an alfalfa-fed lamb, and it is difficult 
to make as good on any other ration. The healtli- 
fulness of the diet is attested by the very great even- 
ness of lots of alfalfa-fed lambs, though this is in 
part accounted for by the regularity and moderation 
of the feeding. 

There are other alfalfa feeding districts in Kan- 
sas and Nebraska where the business is carried on 
very much as in Colorado, having almost as good 
weather, though not usually as good alfalfa. This 
is owing to the greater liability of rain falling on 
Nebraska and Kansas alfalfa and to the careless 
methods of haymakers caused in part by scarcity of 
labor. Corn is plentiful in these feeding yards and 
is sometimes fed with greater freedom than in Colo- 
rado, though without corresponding increase in 
gain. The truth is that a lamb cannot be forced as 
a pig can by feeding an excess of grain; he should 
make a large part of his growth from coarse forage, 
and overfeeding with grain is a dangerous proposi- 
tion. 

Then there are regions where men attempt to fat- 
ten lambs with wild prairie hay or sorghum, with 
corn. Large, well-developed lambs will finish fairly 
well on such rations, though at considerably greater 
cost than when alfalfa is fed. 



WESTERN LAMB FEEDING 273 

Prof. E. A. Burnett of the Nebraska Experiment 
Station has shown that, comparing alfalfa hay and 
prairie hay with corn, the alfalfa-fed lambs made 
52 per cent greater gains than the prairie-hay-fed 
lambs. The addition of 16 per cent of oilmeal to 
the grain ration of the prairie-hay-fed lambs in- 
creased their gain 26 per cent. 

The writer has often demonstrated in his own 
practice that lambs cannot be fed with much profit 
without a large amount of protein in the ration, 
and alfalfa or clover is the best and cheapest car- 
rier of available protein. 

In Nebraska and elsewhere lambs are quite fre- 
quently turned directly into fields of standing corn 
and permitted to do their own harvesting. Some- 
times rape is sown in the corn at time of last cul- 
tivation to add to their supply of forage. Two to 
four pounds per acre of rape seed are sufficient. 
It is better to let this last cultivation be fairly early 
so as to give the rape a start. Should the season 
prove showery the rape will come on and add 
greatly to the value of the feed. This plant is one 
of the most valuable to the sheep feeder. 

There are certain points to be observed in pas- 
turing down corn with lambs. It is not a practice 
adapted to feeding very thin, light lambs, since they 
require too long a feeding season. It is not a good 
practice in a wet region, or on a soil readily 
tramped into mud and damaged thereby. Once the 
lambs are accustomed to the corn they should not 
be taken away from it else they will on return over- 



274 StIEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

eat and die in conseqnence. Salt slionld be before 
tliem at all times. 

The writer is of the opinion that the one valuable 
feature of this practice is the cheapness of its exe- 
cution. There is certainly some wastes, unless pigs 
follow the lambs, and in some instances at least 
there is a high death rate owing to the impossibility 
of limiting the amount of corn eaten. However, as 
a usual thing the lambs learn slowly to eat the corn, 
finding it hard to shell, and do not founder. 

Mature sheep are sometimes turned into the 
cornfields to glean their own harvest. There is 
probably more danger of founder in old sheep than 
in lambs, since they the more readily begin to eat 
the ears. It may be said here that it is unsafe to 
turn native sheep in the cornfields, as being accus- 
tomed to corn they will get too much of the grain, 
while their western kindred will take more readily 
to the fodder. 

In conclusion it may be said that the western 
feeders have very great advantages in their cheap 
and abundant forage and grain and their mild, 
sunny climate. They achieve success by close at- 
tention to details ; the lambs are fed with very great 
regularity as to time and amount. One man will 
feed 2,500 or more, so the labor cost is light. 

Their disadvantage is in their remoteness from 
market, entailing higher freights, and in the specu- 
lative character of the western men which leads 
many of them to jump from one industry to an- 
other, feeding few lambs one year and very many 



WESTERN LAMB FEEDING 275 

tlie next, jumping' often jnst at the right time to fail 
to alight on their feet. It is a curious fact that in 
Nebraska and Kansas few farmers feed their own 
grain and hay, preferring to sell to great operators 
who feed in central plants many thousands of sheep 
and lambs. Thus is the manure lost to farms that 
will some day need it, and mountains of richness 
are heaped up outside of feeding corrals to prove 
an embarrassment to the owner. This system is 
wrong and invites disaster. The man who pro- 
duces the feed should feed it at home. A man can 
afford to devote his time to 500 sheep or lambs in 
winter ; thus he has left on the farm much of the fer- 
tility taken from it in crops and can readily return 
it to his fields. Feeding his own crops he runs 
small risk of loss in his operations. 

FEEDING MILL SCREENINGS. 

Minnesota is at present the great state for feed- 
ing screenings. These screenings come from the 
great mills along the upper Mississippi and else- 
where. They contain a little shrunken wheat, a 
good deal of weed seed, largely of pigeon grass, and 
bits of straw and trash. There are many thousands 
of tons of screenings available every year. Most of 
this material is used by the large operators, who 
feed from a few to many thousands. They gen- 
erally use sheds provided with self-feeding bins 
holding many bushels of screenings. The manage- 
ment of one of their plants is admirably simple : the 
lambs are bought, usually of a fairly good size and 



276 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

quality, dipped and turned into the slieds, where 
they remain until fat. Usually no hay is fed or re- 
quired, the bulky nature of the screenings render- 
ing them all-sufficient for properly distending the 
lamb. 

At one time large profits ensued from feeding 
lambs on screenings. The millers, curiously enough, 
became aware of this fact and began steadily to 
raise the price of screenings. As lamb prices ad- 
vanced so did screenings, till at this writing the 
margin is not large and a bad year would wipe it 
out altogether. 

In Michigan and nearby states a great many 
lambs are fed '' salvage grain"; that is, grain that 
has been through a fire or become overheated in the 
elevator bins by reason of being stored in too moist 
a condition. If the salvage grain (wheat, oats, bar- 
ley or sometimes even a mixture with flaxseed in it) 
is heavy, lambs will thrive very well indeed on it. 
The charred grains seem to be good for the diges- 
tion and do not weigh very much. 

SHEEP FEEDING IN THE CORNBELT. 

In the cornbelt proper the conditions for feed- 
ing are generally good so far as abundance of food 
is concerned. Corn is a staple and must find a mar- 
ket. Hay is readily grown, and late experience has 
shown that wherever there is limestone soil, or 
sweet and fertile soil, alfalfa may be grown. Red 
clover is usually easily grown. Thus there is a 
ready source of food for sheep. 



WESTERN LAMB FEEDING 277 

The climate is another matter. Sheep want dry 
footing and dry coats. They cannot endure muddy 
yards and wet, dripping skies. Therefore, before 
we attempt to feed himbs we must provide a some- 
what artificial climate. This is done with shingles 
to turn off the wet. Mature sheep are very often 
fattened altogether in open yards and western 
Merinos have fleeces that turn rain fairly well, but 
lambs in the exposure do not thrive and it is folly 
to attempt feeding them east of the Missouri Eiver 
without some shelter from rain. North of Illinois, 
however, where rains are infrequent and snows 
light and dry, sheds are sometimes dispensed with, 
but that is really ouside the cornbelt. 

The character of the barn or shed used is not 
essential. It may be a simple roof open on two or 
three sides, to which hay will be hauled on wagons 
from ricks. The writer has such a feeding plant 
and uses it to good advantage. It may better be a 
barn of two stories, the upper one stored with 
alfalfa or clover hay. On the lower or ground floor 
the lambs are fed. Their part should be eight feet 
high in the clear, all in one large room, which may 
be divided as desired by use of racks or movable 
panels. 

Through this room there should be opportunity 
to drive transversely through nearly or quite every 
bent or space between posts. To accomplish this 
doors must constitute the whole length, preferably 
on the north and south sides of the building, which 
mav well stand east and west. 



278 



SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 



Thus the two sides will be composed entirely of 
doors so far as the lower story is concerned. Doors 
cost little more than ordinary siding to construct. 
These doors should be divided transversely at a 
height of about four feet. The lower half will 
swing from the post just as a gate swings, while 
the upper half will be hinged at the upper side, and 
raise up outwardly. Thus the lower part of the 




SIDE VIEW OF MODEL SHEEP BARN, SHOWING DOORS, 

door may remain closed to restrain the sheep, while 
the upper half is lifted to admit air and light. Thus 
air may be admitted and storms kept out, the out- 
ward swing of the upper door throwing drip of rain 
away. 

These upper doors will in mild weather be raised 
high and left up. In time of storm or extreme cold 
they may be closed on one side or the other. 

An abundance of fresh air is absolutely necessary 



WESTERN LAMB FEEDING 



279 



to the lamb. He will not thrive or fatten well with- 
out it. He will thrive better in the open field than 
in a close foul-smelling-, unventilated barn or shed. 
Nor does it matter much after being once on feed 




CROSS-SECTION OF MODEL SHEEP BARN, SHOWING FRAME. 

whether the lamb barn is warm or cold. In truth 
the lambs often thrive better to have it moderately 
cold. It is not necessary or best to have it warm 
enough so that water will not freeze within. If the 
user is uncertain whether he will remember to open 



280 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

these upper doors lie had better not hang them at 
all, but leave the space open instead. The cold and 
snow that will blow in will do less injury to the 
fattening- lambs than the deprivation of air would do. 

The barn should have no floor save the natural 
earth. Water troughs of concrete are best and they 
may be built so as to be half within and half outside 
of the barn, on the sunny side. These tanks may 
be of large size, thus obviating the necessity of stor- 
age tanks, say 10x12 feet and about 18 inches deep. 
It is of no use to make a lamb's drinking trough 
very deep, and in fact there is danger that they may 
drown in a deep tank, since they will sometimes 
jump into it. 

The amount of room desirable in a feeding barn 
is about 5 square feet to a lamb aside from the 
racks. In practice one will need about 8 square 
feet gross, which will give him room for his racks. 
To feed, then, a carload or 350 lambs, he needs a 
barn about 36x72 feet. Some feeders crowd the 
lambs more than that but they will not thrive as 
they ought nor ripen evenly unless all have room 
so that they may eat at the same time. 

The next thing is the feed rack. Various types 
are in use and all have some good qualities. After 
much experience with various types the writer finds 
this form best (see illustration). It is made of two 
lx6-inch boards spaced 24 inches apart, with ends 
and a bottom of matched pine flooring. This makes 
a shallow box or feed trough. At the corners are 
legs of 2x2-inch stuff, 40 inches high. The vertical 



WESTERN LAMB FEEDING 



281 



slats are of i/^-incli stuff 3 inches wide and are 
spaced 6% inches apart. The top of the box should 
be about 12 inches high. In this rack may be fed 
any sort of grain or forage. The wide openings 
between the slats permit sheep to thrust their heads 
clear in and there they will stand quietly eating 
until they have consumed the ration with little 
waste, whereas if the vertical slats are placed close 
together the lambs will pull the hay out, dropping 
it beneath their feet. This is a cheap form of rack, 
durable, easily made and as effective as any. The 



TWO VIEWS OF FEED-RACK. 

length should be to fit well with the type of barn 
used, so that rows of these racks will, when re- 
quired, make divisions or fit between the posts of 
the basement, 

Now, with the feed racks in place, with water, 
and the mow above stored with clover or alfalfa 
hay, which should have been early cut, we are ready 
for the lambs. First a word about the yard. It 
should have in it about one-half greater capacity 
than the roof covers, not more, and if it can be 
sloping all the better. It should be well graveled 
with rather coarse gravel, spread smoothly. If it 



282 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

can be concreted all tlie better, since it will then be 
very easily kept clean. 

The reason for having a small yard is so that it 
may the more readily be kept dry and clean, and 
because in a large yard there is too mnch waste of 
manure. Lambs in the fattening pen do not need 
much exercise and are the better not to have it. 

Practices differ in regard to shutting lambs up 
or letting them have the run of the yard. In Mich- 
igan large feeders commonly put lambs in the barn 
and leave them there until fat. It is unusual to 
find them ever in the yards. Thus all of the manure 
is saved, the liquids as well as the solids, and a large 
part of the value of the manure is in the liquids. I 
cannot see that their death loss is higher than that 
of men who let their lambs run out at will. I do 
not think it so high. Their gains are as good as 
any and better than one usually finds. 

On eastern farms it is a wise practice to turn 
lambs into the yard only long enough to allow the 
men to put feed in the racks, then immediately to 
shut them in until the next feeding time. Thus 
treated, there will be no disturbance by passing 
dogs or men; the lambs will be always near their 
feed and will eat more regularly, and the great sav- 
ing of manure will be a source of considerable 
profit. 

A word, too, about hay. With timothy hay in the 
mow no attempt should be made to fatten lambs. 
Oat straw is as good, or as bad. Bright shredded 
corn stover is a little better, and when fed in con- 



WESTERN LAMB FEEDING 283 

nection witli abundant wheat bran and a little oil- 
meal it will serve very well. Without this extra 
supply of protein shredded corn stover will not 
profitably fatten lambs. 

Now let us bring the lambs home. They come 
from the cars half famished, though there are sel- 
dom any dead ones among them. What a sight it 
is to see them devouring the grass along the road- 
side as they go from the station to the farm! It 
is impossible to hurry them, nor should one attempt 
it; let them take their time. When they reach the 
farm we will turn them first into some grass pasture 
where there is water and there they may rest for 
two days, supposing it to be yet fair and dry 
weather. Then they must be dipped, unless we are 
willing to accept the dipping at the yards. And at 
once they go to their pens and are initiated into the 
mysteries of barn life. We will put about 500 in a 
pen or what the barn holds. The writer feeds 700 
in one barn, which seems not ^to be too many for all 
to thrive. There must be racks enough so that all 
the lambs may find places to eat at the same time. 

We fill the racks moderately full of alfalfa hay 
and watch the lambs eat it. At first they are timid 
about going into the barn, but soon they find their 
way about and learn where the food is. And then 
how they do eat! We will feed them twice a day, 
at the same time each day, and let them rest. The 
water we must watch, that it is kept pure enough 
for man to drink and always in supply. Salt we 
will give at first by dissolving it in water and 



284 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

sprinkling it over the hay; it may be put on the 
coarse stems that they leave. After doing this for 
a few days we will find their appetite for salt satis- 
fied; then we will fill a box with salt in one corner 
of the barn and let them have access to it at their 
own will. But if we could take time and trouble to 
put brine on their hay all through the feeding sea- 
son that would be the better way, making them eat 
the coarser parts with relish and avoiding all dan- 
ger from getting too much salt. There is, however, 
little danger of that if the lambs are first care- 
fully introduced to it until their appetite is ap- 
peased, then given access to it at all times. On 
Woodland Farm it is the custom to roll salt barrels 
into the barn and saw out two or three staves, let- 
ting the sheep consume it as their appetite indicates 
they should. But when the writer fed his lambs in 
person he preferred the brining method. 

We will feed no grain at all for the first two 
weeks, unless the lambs chance to be unusually vig- 
orous and therefore able to take it sooner. It is 
wise to let the lambs get their strength before at- 
tempting to feed them grain, to which they are not 
accustomed. 

In some cases the lambs will be so weak when 
they have found their journey's end that it will be 
wise to strengthen them by feeding a little wheat 
bran in connection with the clover or alfalfa hay. 
There is scarcely anything more readily digested 
and strengthening than wheat bran and it seems 
especially suited to the needs of the lamb. In 



WESTERN LAMB FEEDING 



285 




286 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

trutli, the chief reason why I am not nsing more and 
advocating it, is its heavy cost, now that the dairy- 
men have learned that they must have it. 

In former years, before they had much alfalfa 
hay and when bran was far cheaper than now, the 
writer and his brother fed many tons of it to lambs 
with very gratifying results. They made it profit- 
able to feed it, though later when they had abandon- 
ed it for alfalfa hay produced on their own farm 
the profits of lamb feeding were greatly increased. 

The cost of growing lamb mutton in the days when 
timothy hay, oat straw and shredded corn stover 
were used in connection with wheat bran and oilmeal 
for the ration, with corn, was about $6.25 per hun- 
dred pounds. Afterward, when the only feeds used 
were alfalfa hay and ear corn, the cost dropped to 
$3.50 per hundred. With hay at $8.00, corn at 35c. 

There are troubles that come to weak western 
lambs upon their first introduction to the eastern 
feedlot. Sometimes they develop sore mouths in a 
very contagious form. The remedy is to rub off the 
scabs with a corncob and cover the sore places with 
a little undiluted coaltar sheep dip. This remedies 
the disorder in short order. It is wise to take it in 
hand early. 

Sometimes, if the yards are a bit muddy, sore feet 
develop. These ought to be promptly treated, either 
with blue vitriol or butter of antimony and the yard 
made dry. Air-slaked, dry lime scattered where they 
will get it on their feet will help. 

Now we have the lambs used to their new home and 



WESTERN LAMB FEEDING 287 

fed up on alfalfa until tliey are strong again, we are 
ready to introduce them to grain feeding. It is a 
good practice to turn them out of doors while we put 
in feed for them, leaving them out until the racks 
are all filled. If oats are plentiful and cheap enough 
we can give the iirst grain food of oats, mixed with 
bran. There is nothing better than this. Scatter 
the grain very thinly along the bottoms of the racks, 
having first cleaned them out well. A quart to a 
rack will be an abundance, less will be better. 

After the grain put in the hay loosely. Be careful 
with nice bright early-cut clover and alfalfa not to 
feed too much ; they will waste it. They may as well 
eat it up almost clean. 

Let the lambs come in. Throw open several wide 
doors at one time so that they will not crowd. Little 
by little they will learn the taste of the grain. Do 
not increase the amount fed until you feel certain 
that most of them are seeking it. Then let your in- 
crease be very gradual. 

Corn, in the cornbelt, must be the main part of 
the fattening ration. Now to introduce that. Take 
ear corn, if it is at hand, and chop the ears up with 
a hatchet into nubbins about an inch long. Strew 
a few of these nubbins in each rack. Next feeding 
time strew in a few more. Increase very, very slow- 
ly as they learn to eat the corn, till you are giving 
them several ears to a rack. Cut the bits longer and 
longer, till at last you are merely making two pieces 
of an ear. Finally stop breaking ears at all, and 
feed them whole. 



288 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

You should be about 45 days in getting them on 
to what is practically a full feed of corn. And then 
do not give them all they want, but give them nearly 
all. If when on full feed they are eating as much 
as they desire within a very few grains you have 
done well. Be sure they clean it all up at every feed 
and come eagerly for more at the next feeding time. 

Now when they have gotten to eating corn well 
you may as well drop the bran and oats, merely be- 
cause of the expense of feeding them, since oats are 
usually dear. If they are cheap enough continue to 
feed them, and so of barley, in connection with corn ; 
they form an admirable ration. If a portion of the 
hay must be prairie hay, oat hay or timothy, in fact 
any grass not a clover, you cannot discard bran, 
since there is too little protein in the grasses to 
make the lambs grow. They need to make a lot of 
flesh and bone, too, besides the fat. If you have them 
to spare feed a small amount of soybeans in con- 
nection with corn. Soys are rich in protein, some 
varieties having above 35 per cent. And the soy 
straw, if it has not been wet, is relished though 
too coarse to be eaten clean. Oilmeal in connection 
with bran, where grasses or corn stover form the 
hay, works admirably. 

There is most clean profit, however, in feeding 
a simple ration of alfalfa hay and ear corn and 
nothing else, unless corn silage. No feed will make 
better or more marketable lambs. 

Once on full feed the programme should be an 
unvarying one. At some regular time in the morn- 



WESTERN LAMB FEEDING 289 

ing, not too early, say half an hour after sunrise, 
the lambs should have their morning feed. The 
water should be looked after and the lambs allowed 
peacefully to consume their allowance. Shortly after 
noon they will lie down to rest and sleep. Do not 
ever disturb them; assimilation takes place best 
when they are asleep. Try to feed hay with judg- 
ment, so that they eat it nearly all and yet have 
enough. 

At about four in! the afternoon begin feeding 
again. Later will serve, so you observe the same 
time each day. Feed just as you did in the morning. 

One hundred lambs will eat about 2% bushels 
of corn daily when on full feed, unless they are very 
small lambs. A thousand lambs will eat more than 
1,500 lbs. of hay daily. It takes about 2i/2 bushels 
of corn to fatten a lamb and 12 to 20 tons of hay to 
the hundred lambs, depending on how long they are 
kept. 

Soon the stems of hay will accumulate in the barn 
and make a good bed. The corn should be cut and 
the stalks fed in the open yard, which will thus be 
kept dry and clean. The blades of the corn will be 
pulled off and eaten and the hay thus helped out. 

Soon the manure spreader must be started taking 
out the accumulating manure from the shed. Every 
day a few loads may be hauled away and spread on 
the frozen ground ; thus there is avoided the accumu- 
lation of a vast amount of manure to be cleared 
away at one time in spring when every sort of work 
is crowding. 



290 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

Late in March the lambs may he shorn, if they 
have not already gone to market, and the feeding- 
continued for a little time thereafter. When they 
are ripe they should go to market, otherwise losses 
are likely to follow, not from disease but from dis- 
orders favored by too plethoric a condition. 

With small lambs it requires at least 120 days to 
ripen. With larger and more fleshy ones less time 
is required. With very small lambs in thin flesh 180 
days are none too many to induce ripeness. The 
latter part of the feeding period gives the more 
profit, since gains are better than at the beginning 
when the lambs were unused to feed. 

It is cheaper to ship the lambs to market clipped, 
since many more can ride in a car and the freight 
is no more. 

When the lambs are uneven in size it is likely that 
some will ripen before the rest. In this case a car- 
load may often be sent on and the rest allowed to 
ripen further. 

The writer has sometimes made lambs fed in this 
manner gain nearly 100 per cent in weight. It is a 
pleasant business and in the long run profitable. 
Sometimes a year will come when the price of feed- 
ers is too high in proportion to the selling price of 
lambs and one must figure on the value of the ma- 
nure to find his profit. 

In recent years the writer has varied the treatment 
outlined by feeding corn silage in connection with 
ear corn and alfalfa hay. This silage is made from 
well matured corn, so that it makes a sweet silage, 



WESTERN LAMB FEEDING 



291 



containing little acid and having in it no mold. 
Lambs eat this greedily and seem to grow much 
more rapidly than when it is withheld. About li/o 
to 2 pounds of silage makes a day's ration for a 
lamb. The writer believes this cheapens the ration 
materially and perhaps the mutton is better; he 
thinks it is and has had no difficulty in securing the 




SHEEP WAGONS. 
Photo from Wilcox, Annual Report B. A. 1. 1902, U. S. Dept. of Agr. 

top price for his alfalfa-silage-corn-fed lambs. When 
corn is made into silage after it is well matured 
there is of course a very large proportion of grain 
thereon and it is tender and succulent and much 
relished by the lambs. The small amount of acid 
in the silage is lactic acid, promotive of digestion. 
Silage has been fed to breeding ewes with excel- 



292 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

lent results wlien it was of good quality and fed 
judiciously. When it has been acid, or when in 
immoderate amounts, disaster has followed its use. 

In some instances that have come under the writ- 
er's observation great losses have come from at- 
tempting to feed silage exclusively to breeding ewes. 
They did well for a time, then went swiftly to ruin, 
much of it irretrievable. Loss has also come from 
feeding acid silage. 

A silo should not be built with cemented water- 
tight floor. On such a floor the silage becomes very 
acid, and when it is fed to sheep trouble follows. 
The natural earth makes the best floor for a silo. 

Never with sheep should silage form more than 
half the ration. If this rule is observed and the si- 
lage is made from well matured corn, planted no 
thicker than for the regular crop, it is believed that 
none but good results will ever follow its use. 

Lambs will not consume quite all the coarser 
parts of the silage. These must be thrown under 
foot or cleaned out and fed to cows. The writer has 
seen great loss from feeding the refused portions of 
silage to horses. In one instance where quite a heap 
of it had accumulated in the barnyard eleven horses 
and mules ate of it. All of them died. There is 
evidently some principle developed in silage after 
it has been exposed to the air, perhaps, that is most 
unfavorable to horses. They died with symptoms 
resembling spinal meningitis. There will be death 
loss among feeding lambs no matter how carefully 
they are fed. Care will greatly reduce this loss, 



WESTERN LAMB FEEDING 293 

however. The writer has had as low as 2 per cent 
and as high as 8 per cent. If no more than 4 per cent 
of loss is sustained no one needs shed tears. 

Attention to regularity in feeding, care that no 
doors or gates are left open to admit lambs to feed 
bins, and always feeding well under the gauge of 
the appetite will usually keep the death loss very low. 
With western lambs there is sometimes danger of 
their jumping into water tanks if they have access 
thereto. The feeder should be careful that no sud- 
den fright causes them to stampede in the barn and 
pile up, which may smother a number. 

There is seldom any good accomplished by treat- 
ing with medicine sick lambs in the feedlot, unless 
for stomach worms. These should be cleaned out 
before the feeding begins. The writer has lost 
probably his full share of lambs and has tried vari- 
ous remedial treatments, but is not aware that he 
ever helped one. Death, in fact, usually comes from 
some inflammation of the intestinal tract, caused by 
engorgement of rich food, and medicine only ag- 
gravates the trouble. 

There will occasionally be loss from gid, or turn- 
sick, which is caused by a bladder worm parasite in 
the brain. There is no practical remedy for this, 
though the lamb when first observed will make good 
mutton. 

With regular, rational treatment the lambs will 
keep in health, and when occasionally one dies the 
owner must console himself by thinking of the 99 
well ones, meantime taking off the pelt, salting it 



294 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

well and feeding the fresh carcass to his pigs or 
chickens. 

The writer does not l)elieve it necessary for lambs 
to 1)0 out in their yards during day or night, so the 
barn or shed is as thoroughly aired as he has direct- 
ed. When they are confined their urine is saved 
and the value of the manure greatly increased. 
Eicli green fields spring up as by magic about the 
lamb feeding plant, and when off years come and 
little direct money profit is seen the feeder can con- 
sole himself if he has husbanded wisely his stores 
of manure by seeing the corn reaching toward 
heaven and flaunting its banners of deepest, dark- 
est green, while following the corn are fine mead- 
ows of alfalfa or clover. 

When lambs are fed long, until after green grass 
comes in spring, it is a temptation to turn them 
out to graze for a time. This is a mistaken prac- 
tice, sure to result in great loss. The lambs will 
not continue to gain on grass, even though fed their 
grain as usual, at least there will be a period of re- 
action when they will actually lose flesh, though if 
the practice be continued long enough they will 
gain it back again. It is more profitable to send 
them to market right from their dry lot. 

Sometimes, however, lambs are bought in the 
spring with the expectation of feeding them off on 
grass, with corn. This may prove a satisfactory 
enterprise if it is carefully managed. The troughs 
should be placed in a yard or temporary corral in 
the pasture and when grain is put in them the en- 



WESTERN LAMB FEEDING 295 

tire flock must ]je called or driven within and fas- 
tened there for a sufficient time for them to con- 
sume their ration. They may then be loosened and 
permitted to roam where they will until the next 
feeding time arrives. 

The feeder must see to it that every lamb comes 
up every time. Otherwise he will have cases of in- 
digestion and founder ; many will get off their feed. 

Sometimes self-feeders are used on pasture. 
Tliey seldom result well, owing to the essentially 
sliort memory and weak original impulse of the 
Iamb. He will not leave his fellows to go for feed 
when he is hungry, and when he does reach the 
feeder he is apt to gorge himself, thereafter declin- 
ing to eat at all. 

USE OF SELF-FEEDERS. 

The writer has used self-feeders in past years in 
his feeding barns and discarded them entirely. 
A'arious tests have shown that not only is the death 
loss much heavier wliere self-feeders are used for 
corn but the cost of gains is also much greater. If 
bran is fed it may be fed in a self-feeder, though 
of course this requires the use of considerable bran, 
and light screenings are well enough fed in that 
manner, but for corn, barley or wheat, troughs and 
regular rations are safer and better. 

FEEDING BEET PULP. 

Nearness to sugar factories gives opportunity to 
utilize the waste product called beet pulp. This 



296 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

pulp is an excellent food but contains 90 per cent 
of water. Therefore, like silage, it is not well to 
feed it without dry grain being added to the ration 
as well as dry forage. A ton of pulp contains 
about the same feeding value as 200 pounds of corn. 
This would indicate what the farmer can afford to 
pay for pulp — a very small amount indeed when he 
must count the cost of hauling and feeding. It is 
doubtless a healthful addition to the ration but ex- 
periments show that pulp alone with alfalfa hay 
does not make as good lambs as corn and alfalfa. 

There is little bone material in beet pulp, and 
lambs fed on it are said to suffer from that lack. 
It would seem, however, that alfalfa would make 
good this deficiency. The practical objection to 
feeding beet pulp in cold weather is its freezing, 
or its liability to make the yards damp. 

The quality of meat from these pulp-fed lambs 
is very good, though they do not stand shipment so 
well as corn-fed lambs. 

CAUSES OF DEATH IN THE FEEDLOT. 

Lambs born east of the Missouri River are often 
infested with stomach worms. In buying them in 
the fall to put on feed only the thin ones can be 
secured, and these are almost certainly infested. 
These lambs will die rapidly in the feedlot unless 
they are thoroughly treated to eradicate the worms. 

Lambs free from parasites should not die. When 
they do it is because of some mistake in their man- 
agement, or some accident. 



WESTERN LAMB FEEDING 



297 






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298 SHEEP FxVRMING IN AMERICA 

The heaviest losses that ever occurred to the 
writer came from feeding a large amount of oat 
hay, not well cured, and on which had been put too 
much • salt in an effort to keep it from molding. 
Very many lambs die from affections of the bladder 
causing retention of urine, or ''water belly/' 
There is some evidence that the too free use of oat 
hay will cause this. 

Many lambs are lost from indigestion caused by 
feeding too much grain, or by introducing them too 
suddenly to grain. Seventy-five per cent of all the 
lambs dying in the feedlot die from indigestion 
caused by over-eating grain. 

In investigating the causes of death losses the 
writer has found these significant illustrations. 
One man fed his lambs in the sheds, feeding corn, 
clover hay and corn silage. He did nof feed too 
much grain, but he did not turn the lambs out when 
he fed them. Thus some of the lambs began eating 
sooner than the others and naturally ate too much. 
Another man had heavy losses because his lambs 
had not enough good hay and too much moldy en- 
silage. Had they had a sufficiency of hay it is 
doubtful if they would have eaten the moldy por- 
tions of the silage. It is not well to feed moldy 
silage to any animals. We have lost lambs through 
the carelessness of feeders in leaving the granary 
door open. We have lost lambs from an awkward 
arrangement of our sheds, having an L with a long 
and narrow extension. This prevented perfect dis- 
tribution of the lambs. Something frightened the 



WESTERN LAMB FEEDING 299 

lambs from tlie L, maybe a house cat, or a rat or 
barn fowl, and they fled to the main part of the 
shed soon after they were turned to their feed. A 
few ventured and ate too much corn. They died. 
The writer has had a death loss of less than 1 per 
cent, and as high as 6 per cent. No one need feel 
disheartened at a loss of 3 per cent between pur- 
chase and sale. 

To absolutely prevent loss it is quite necessary to 
start with healthy lambs; to rest them and begin 
by feeding very moderately, using good clover or 
alfalfa hay as the basis of their ration and to in- 
troduce them to corn very slowly and gradually; to 
increase the ration so slowly that they will be un- 
aware of the change — to feed always with perfect 
regularity and always a little less grain than they 
will consume and to give attention to very thorough 
ventilation and the supply of pure water. The salt 
supply should be always conveniently available. 
Nothing should ever frighten the lambs. Stam- 
peding them will often cause death. When lambs are 
lying down they should never be disturbed. They 
fatten most while reclining and asleep. 

PEAS FOR LAMBS. 

In some regions where the Canada field peas 
thrive, or near the factories where split peas are 
prepared, peas or pea refuse is available for lamb 
feeding. There is nothing better. Lambs grow, 
thrive and fatten admirably on this food. With 
peas for the grain ration it is not so material that 



300 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

alfalfa be fed, since peas are exceedingly ricli in 
protein. 

Cheap beans also make a very rich feed on which 
sheep and lambs thrive. In Michigan and New 
York, where beans are quite extensively grown, 
bean straw with pods are fed, together with broken 
and refuse beans. Sheep thrive on bean straw. 
Being a forage rich in protein, it is well suited to 
the needs of sheep. When beans or peas are fed 
it is well to feed corn with them, since either beans 
or peas are too highly nitrogenous to form a per- 
fectly balanced ration; corn, rich in starches and 
oil, serves well to bring the ration into more per- 
fect balance. 

LAMB FEEDING IN MICHIGAN. 

In central Michigan is seen a type of lamb feed- 
ing unique in America. In Shiawasse and adjoin- 
ing counties it is well developed. Farms are given 
over entirely to lamb feeding. Only forage is 
grown, as hay and silage; not all feeders yet use 
silage. Bean straw is used to a limited extent. 
Grain purchased either in the form of "salvage'' 
grain (damaged grain from burned elevators often- 
times) or corn from the cornbelt. Barns are very 
large and good, holding from 500 to 3,000 lambs. 
Some feeders fill their barns twice during the sea- 
son, selling the first lot in midwinter, the second 
lot in May or June. Astonishingly little forage is 
fed; the lambs are required to clean up every whit 
of what is given them. The distinguishing feature 



WESTERN LAMB FEEDING 301 

of these feeding barns is the racks in which hay and 
grain are fed. These are permanent and divide the 
floor into small pens, say 16x16'. Each pen holds 
about 40 lambs. Water is in each pen, commonly 
in a clay tile or sewer pipe, all of which are filled 
by use of one float valve somewhere in the barn. 
The barns do not often freeze in cold weather. The 
peculiar thing about the racks is that each one has 
an open end connecting with a feedalley, so that a 
man can walk in and sweep it out and put in the 
feed. The racks are two feet or less in width, and 
the floors are tight. Lambs eat through a long hor- 
izontal opening in the side of the rack through 
which they thrust their heads. This opening is 
readily closed by lifting a board that just fills the 
space. The board is lifted by means of a lever to 
which are attached cords that run forward over 
pulleys. This may sound complicated, but really it 
is very simple. In operation the feeder first pulls 
his levers and shuts the lambs away from the racks, 
then walking in sweeps them clean. He then puts 
in the feed, both grain and hay, and perhaps silage, 
after which a pull of the levers raises the boards 
that have closed the openings in the sides of the 
racks. At once whole lines of lambs thrust in their 
heads and all begin eating. The levers are locked 
to hold the boards safely in place when the racks 
are open. The one inconvenience of this arrange- 
ment is that the manure must be thrown out 
through windows or by the use of carriers. When 
all in a neighborhood adopt a scheme of this kind 



302 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

it must have merit worth considering. For one 
thing, the feeder can assort his lambs according to 
size and condition very nicely in these small pens. 

THE BUSINESS OF LAMB FEEDING. 

The writer thinks it unnecessary to ask pardon 
for thus devoting so many pages to the description 
of the lamb feeding industry, based on western 
lambs, corn and alfalfa. 

It is easy to see from the immensity of the ranges 
and the constant supply of lambs coming from them, 
together with the great and ever-increasing demand 
for lamb mutton in the United States, that this in- 
dustry is one destined to steady growth and im- 
portance. Old sheep are fed in relatively decreas- 
ing numbers and the demand for strictly "baby 
lambs" is absorbing a greater and greater propor- 
tion of the farm-grown lambs. Lamb feeding as a 
speculation may result disastrously, indeed is cer- 
tain to do so at times when feeders are bought 
dear, feeds are high in price and lambs sell cheaply 
in spring; but the farmer who fits himself for the 
business and feeds with care and steadiness year 
by year will find his profits encouraging and his 
farm increasing steadily in productiveness. The 
work is such that farm labor finds employment the 
year round, thus good men are attracted to lamb- 
feeding farms. 

FEEDING OF OLDER SHEEP. 

After the lamb comes the yearling in point of 
merit as a feeder. Very often the yearling was a 



WESTERN LAMB FEEDING 



303 



ligiit lamb, too light the owner thought to put upoD 
the market in the fall. In the feedlot yearlings 
thrive. They do not always have perfect front teeth 
and are therefore less able to eat ear corn. If 
bought light enough their gain is very good. They 
may be fed best in just the way described for feed- 




A TAIR OF HAMPSHIRE LAMBS. 



ing lambs and their treatment need vary in no par- 
ticular save one. Should there be any ewes among 
these yearlings the feeder must be very careful that 
they do not get access in any way to the ram, or 
that there be no rams among the lot when bought. 

Ewes in the feedlot will not very often drop liv- 
ing lambs. If they are sent to market before lamb- 



304 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

ing, supposing they show strong signs of pregnancy, 
they are subject to dockage and may possibly be 
thrown out by the inspectors. 

FEEDING MATUKE WETHEES. 

There are advantages that lambs do not possess 
in feeding wethers. They are big and strong and 
hardy. They do not die so easily. They do not need 
shelter so much as the lambs need it. They will 
thrive quite well on corn and corn stover with little 
hay. They are adapted to a ruder, rougher style 
of sheep husbandry than the lambs. 

There are, however, some few essentials to suc- 
cessful wether feeding. First and most important 
is to buy the right class and to buy them cheap 
enough. With the lamb one can afford better to 
pay too much, since the gain in weight may be so 
great that the excess of cost may be offset by the 
good gain in pounds and profitable price for it. 
With mature sheep much smaller gains can be had, 
and if there is not a material advance in selling 
price over cost loss is apt to follow. 

In lamb feeding there is often most profit in buy- 
ing small, immature lambs. With wethers, on the 
other hand, the bigger and better matured they are 
the better the chances presumably are for profits 
in feeding them — that is, if they have been bought 
low enough so that the selling price will be mate- 
rially better. There is thus the advanced gain on 
the first cost besides the pay for what weight is 
put on. Opinions differ as to what advance in price 



WESTERN LAMB FEEDING 



305 



the feeder of mature sheep must have in order to 
make a profit. Certainly it depends much upon the 
selling price; if that is high there is less need of 
margin than if it is low. In general there should 
be a rise of a dollar per hundred to make feeding 
of mature sheep profitable. This also depends 
much upon the price of wool. When wool sells as 




AT A ROYAL ENGLISH SHOW. 

high as 25 to 30 cents per pound the profit of feed- 
ing mature sheep is naturally much greater than 
when wool is low. Then also one can afford to feed 
the heavy shearing types, which do not naturally 
make so good gains in weight as do the more open 
wooled and light shearing sorts. 

In feeding sheep there is need in the ration for 
much less protein than when lambs are fed. 



306 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

The reason is plain: the mature sheep has its 
frame already bnilt; has nearly as much muscular 
structure as it will ever have. It has been demon- 
strated that feeding does not materially add to the 
flesh of the animal, unless perhaps in case of con- 
siderable emaciation, but puts on fat instead, either 
intruding it between the muscles, or, what is usual 
with the sheep, depositing* it in masses partly upon 
the inside and partly distributed over the body. 

The lamb, as has been noted, has its framework 
yet to build, therefore it needs and must have abun- 
dant protein, hence its thrift when fed such pro- 
tein-carrying foods as wheat bran, oilmeal, soy- 
beans aiid alfalfa or clover hay. 

Corn (maize), is pre-eminently the best foodstuff 
for fattening sheep. It may be fed in very economi- 
cal manner. In Ohio it is the practice to cut the 
corn when ripe, gathering it into large shocks con- 
taining from 144 to 256 hills. These shocks tightly 
bound about the tops keep out the weather and pre- 
serve the ears and blades very well. From the field 
the shocks are drawn direct to the feedyard, or to 
some large, dry feeding field, where the unhusked 
corn is strewn thinly over the ground. Here the 
sheep consume the ears with little or no waste, 
trimming off the blades also. If this practice of 
feeding shock corn is now supplemented by supply- 
ing racks filled with clover or alfalfa hay the sheep 
are as well provided for as need be. 

Sheep consume more food than steers, weight for 
weight of animals being compared, and also make 



WESTERN LAMB FEEDING 307 

slightly greater gains for food consumed. In gen- 
eral sheep will consume proportionately about one- 
fourth more than steers. 

There would thus seem to be considerable ad- 
vantage in feeding sheep over feeding cattle, when 
gains are considered and also fleeces secured, were 
it not that death losses are higher among sheep and 
also prices fluctuate considerably, sometimes feed- 
ers being relatively high in the fall and ripe sheep- 
low in the spring. 

The correct management of a sheep feeding yard 
is simple. There should be provided windbreaks. 
It is an old saying that ''the pig can see the wind'' 
and the sheep can certainly feel it through its thick 
coat. Sometimes these windbreaks are formed by 
long sheds, sometimes by high fences, made tight, 
and sometimes they are of natural timber and 
brush. Some of the best fat sheep the writer has 
ever seen were fed in the old-fashioned way on 
shock corn, in a bluegrass pasture that had been al- 
lowed to grow up very high and thick, and where 
open glades were interspersed with thickets of 
hazel, oak and hickory. In this primitive solitude 
the sheep found shelter and sustenance, feeding on 
shock corn strewn in the open places where the wind 
could not reach them. 

Water must be abundant and good and very ac- 
cessible. Sheep will not thrive if they must go far 
for their drink. 

It is a good plan to provide wide, flat-bottomed 
troughs in which may be fed husked ear corn, since 



308 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

it will not be practicable to feed shock corn all tlie 
season. If the sheep have their teeth they will shell 
the ear corn so readily that it is not worth while 
shelling it for them. 

The hay racks are best in shelter of sheds so that 
the hay cannot become wet with rains. And if there 
is room so that all can be sheltered from soaking 
storms all the better. Dry cold and snow will not 
Imrt bnt wet is a serious setback. 

Many sheep feeders rely upon self-feeders and 
shelled corn for the finishing of the sheep. These 
are usually large bins, holding 20 to 100 bushels 
each, with troughs on either side into which the corn 
descends slowly. There seems less objection to the 
use of the self-feeder for mature sheep than for 
lambs. The writer believes, however, that the great- 
er profit comes from regular feeding in troughs of 
rations a little under the appetites of the sheep. 

A better and safer self-feeder is the self -feeding 
corncrib. This is built with a capacity of hundreds 
of thousands of bushels, with a large trough at the 
side into which the corn descends. Sheep shell this 
corn at their will and the cobs are thrown out as 
they gather. 

Sheep ought to gain on feed from one to four 
pounds per week, depending on their condition and 
the stage of feeding. The gains are most rapid just 
before approaching ripeness. 

Death losses in feeding mature sheep should be 
slightly less than in feeding lambs. Naturally gains 
are less since there is not opportunity for much 



WESTERN LAMB FEEDING 309 

growth along with fattening. The writer once made 
a gain of 45 pounds with lambs in the barn while 
his wethers outside, very well fed, gained 20 pounds. 
The wethers consumed more corn than the lambs 
but had no wheat bran which the lambs received. 

Sheep, better than lambs, will consume various 
coarse fodders. Soybean straw they relish if it 
is not weather damaged, and bean and pea straw. 
When only a maintenance ration is fed it may con- 
sist largely of these fodders, with a trifle of grain 
to keep up weight. 

While in the regions west of the Missouri sheep 
feeding is carried on in this rather primitive fash- 
ion, in Michigan and Ohio it has progressed further 
toward a right solution of the problem. The writer 
has a neighbor who has fed sheep for many years. 
This neighbor, Chas. Bales of Madison Co., Ohio, 
formerly fed in open yards protected only by high 
fences. In these yards he fed with shock corn, us- 
ing self-feeders toward the latter part of the pe- 
riod. He was able to get a gain of about 30 pounds, 
using the best class of Montana feeders. 

Later he built barns and sheds in which he fed 
clover and alfalfa hay. Continuing his grain feed- 
ing in much the same manner he was able to in- 
crease his average gain so that 1,000 sheep weigh- 
ing when they went into the yard llO pounds aver- 
age increased to a weight of 156 pounds besides 
shearing a fleece of 10 pounds. At the same time 
he cut down his death losses to 2 sheep from 1,200 
one year and again to 6 from 1,200. He attributes 



310 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

the lighter losses to the fact of the sheep being 
more comfortable, thus eating with more regularity, 
and not injuring their digestions by sudden over- 
loading with grain. He now believes that the self- 
feeders should be under cover and only the shock 
corn fed in yards. 

This man makes a practice of saving the late sum- 
mer growth of bluegrass on large pastures, on 
which the sheep are turned in October or Novem- 
ber. On these pastures they remain until Christmas 
or sometimes till February if the season is suitable, 
having also racks filled with clover or alfalfa hay. 
They then go to the yards for the final feeding, go- 
ing to market, shorn, in May. 

He believes that the secret of success in feeding 
wethers is to buy the best, using those with a Cots- 
wold or Lincoln cross if obtainable, and to keep 
them stuffed at all times full of grass or clover or 
alfalfa hay. He finds that by this method they con- 
sume less corn and do not suffer from indigestion 
from the result of too much grain. 

He does not turn the sheep to pasture until such 
time as danger from infection by intestinal para- 
sites is past. 



CHAPTER X, 
THE DISEASES OF SHEEP. 

AILMENTS IX GENERAL. 

The writer is sure that sooner or later the reader 
will feel a sudden need of knowledge of sheep dis- 
eases and the remedies therefor. Thus at the risk 
of duplicating a good deal that has been said else- 
where, he devotes this chapter specifically to sheep 
diseases. 

At the outset let me say that to the novice, and 
sometimes to the professional, it is very difficult 
oftentimes to say just what ails a sick sheep. Dis- 
eases may, however, be divided into three principal 
classes : 

First, there may be some external parasite, as 
the tick, louse, scab or foot-rot (which is in a sense 
an external disease). 

Second, there may be some form of internal para- 
sitism. This may be worms in the stomach or in- 
testines, in the throat or lungs, or encysted worms 
making a bladder in the brain. And one or another 
of these internal parasites is the cause of most of 
the sickness among sheep. 

Last, there may be some derangement of the di- 
gestion due to improper feeding, no feeding at all, 

(311) 



312 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

or gorging witli grain. And in some regions, among 
the class of sheepmen who feed sheep in winter, 
nearly all diseases are of this origin. 

Now as to the chance of cure. For external para- 
sites cnre is easy and cheap. For scab, lice, and 
ticks there is the dipping bath, and this has been 
carefully explained in another place. Foot-rot is 
also of rather easy treatment. 

These things are matters requiring timely and 
prompt treatment and are no cause for alarm 
whatever except as scab breaks out in the winter 
time in the middle of the feeding season, when it 
is costly to dip and the sheep have serious setback 
therefrom. Indeed, it is not just proper to class 
these external parasites as diseases, any more than 
fleas on a dog's back, though they produce disease 
if left rmchecked. 

The matter of internal parasites is much more 
serious. Mne-tenths of all the troubles of sheep 
east of the Missouri Eiver are caused by some form 
or other of these plagues, or by a combination of 
them. We will presently give to them some atten- 
tion in detail. 

Derangements of the digestion, caused by too 
much or too little food, or by food of improper 
quality, are often hard to diagnose. For example, 
recently a neighbor of the writer came to him for 
advice. His wethers suffered from some brain dis- 
order; they turned around and around in small cir- 
cles, acting stupefied ; they lingered a few days and 
died. These sheep had come from the same range in 



THE DISEASES OP SHEEP 313 

Montana. The writer promptly diagnosed the dis- 
ease as gid, or turn sickness, caused by the encysted 
parasites called Taenia Coenurus. This worm is 
the fruit of a tape worm that infests dogs or wolves. 
The eggs pass from the dogs or wolves and are 
taken in by the sheep on the grass or in their drink- 
ing water. They hatch within the sheep and the 
young worms pierce the walls of the stomach, gain- 
ing the blood where they travel until they reach the 
brain, where they undergo a change, developing 
heads and making large bladders in which to live. 
It is necessary that the sheep should die after these 
cysts have reached a certain stage of development 
so that some dog, fox or wolf may feed upon the 
dead sheep's head and thus take into its own sys- 
tem the parasites which become established there 
as regular tapeworms. Thus the round is contin- 
ued. The tapeworm within the dog or wolf reinfects 
the grass, the sheep become affected and die to in- 
fect more dogs (if there are any). Now the way 
this hydatid affects sheep is by pressing upon the 
brain substance and absorbing it until the nervous 
system is quite deranged, the sheep is stupid, it 
turns steadily round and round, always the same 
way, neglects food and dies. 

The disease is somewhat prevalent in England 
and Scotland in some years but is probably rare in 
America, at least in a rather long experience the 
writer is not sure that he has ever seen an instance 
of it, but from his book lore he advised his neighbor 
to dissect the next ailing sheep and look for the 



314 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

brain bladder worm or hydatid. The neighbor 
obeyed, but no brain disease was found. Another 
neighbor sent word to the afflicted one to cease feed- 
ing millet hay full of seed, which he did and lost no 
more sheep, having lost some 30 before. Thus there 
was a clear case of deranged digestion deceiving 
one by the symptoms resembling those of brain par- 
asitism. 

The writer has seen other instances of deranged 
digestion that in the last stages gave symptoms very 
like the ones described. 

Now a word about true "turn sickness." It is 
sometimes possible to cure the disease by locating 
the place in the brain where the bladder is formed 
and cutting through the skull and destroying the 
parasite by puncturing the sac that holds it. It is 
said recovery sometimes follows this operation. 
And in Scotland it is reported that some shepherds 
have such skill that they can push a sharp wire up 
the nostril till it locates and punctures the bladder 
in the brain. This, if true, is an interesting and 
astounding fact. In practice, in America, where 
sheep are plenty and veterinarians of the finest skill 
in sheep diseases are costly to employ for such 
cases, it is best to kill the sheep for mutton (which 
is not hurt by the brain hydatid in the earlier 
stages), feed the head to the fire, and not to dogs, 
and get some new sheep. It is a safe rule never to 
allow a dog or wolf to devour a sheep's head at any 
time. And dogs about the place may well be treated 
for tapeworms. Dr. Eushworth thus prescribes for 



THE DISEASES OF SHEEP 315 

tapeworms in dogs: ''The dog to be treated should 
not be fed for at least twelve hours before receiv- 
ing the medicine but it can be allowed all the water 
it chooses. The evening before administering the 
worm medicine a dose of castor oil is advisable; 
for large dogs the dose is three tablespoonfuls. 
Then in the morning take of kamala 3 drams, 
gruel 1 ounce ; mix and give as a dose. With a me- 
dium-sized dog two drams of kamala will be suffi- 
cient. This is a very effective taeniacide. ' ' 

As to the cure of disorders of sheep caused by 
overfeeding in the barn or feedlot. Cases will oc- 
cur in the best regulated barns, not very many when 
things are carefully done, but always some. The 
writer and his brothers and neighbors have lost 
hundreds of sheep and lambs from this cause and 
tried many reputed remedies. He does not now be- 
lieve he has ever benefited a sick sheep by medicine 
or treatment when the cause was due to serious de- 
rangement of digestion. Death is almost sure to 
follow no matter what you may do. If there is 
virtue in anything it is in simply taking the sheep 
away from all grain whatever and letting it alone. 
If there is not too much internal disorder this will 
suffice, but in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred 
when the sheep is sick enough to be very noticeable 
it will die no matter what you may do. So pre- 
vention, not remedy, is the rule for disorders of the 
digestion. These cases come from gorging with 
grain and there is probably some toxic poison 
formed, for in many instances where the writer has 



316 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

made post-mortem examinations of afflicted sheep 
immediately after death no morbid condition was 
apparent save a slight inflammation of some part of 
the intestinal tract, and sometimes even this was 
not in evidence. 

Disorders of the bladder causing stoppage of the 
urine are caused by the deposit of limy substances 
in the bladder, which become washed into the 
urethra where they lodge, causing inflammation, 
stoppage of the urine, a period of suffering accom- 
panied with great distension of the bladder, then 
death. 

The reason for this disorder seems to be in some 
instances the eating of too many mangels rich in 
lime, the eating of too much salt, or the drinking 
of water too ''hard" with lime. The worst instance 
that ever came under the writer's observation was 
in his own feeding barns where he had a great store 
of oat hay, put up so very moist that to save it, it 
was liberally sprinkled with salt. The salt was 
greatly in excess of the needs of the animals and 
made them consume much more water than they 
otherwise would. Very many of the wether lambs 
became afflicted with this distressing malady and 
many remedies were attempted to save them. Some 
few may have been benefited, though the writer 
doubts it. It is recommended to cut off the vermi- 
form appendage in the end of the penis, and to slit 
the penis, opening the urethra, to free it from limy 
substances that obstruct. The writer advises pre- 
vention, and in his own experience with thousands 



THE DISEASES OF SHEEP 317 

of sheep and lambs under observation fed by his 
brothers for some years, good plain practice, using 
the same water supply, has resulted in not one in- 
stance of ''water belly." The writer has been in- 
formed of other instances where oat hay had seem- 
ingly caused this disorder without the accompani- 
ment of an overdose of salt. 

In not one instance in thousands will the use of 
clover or alfalfa hay with corn silage in not too 
great quantity and corn, with oats or bran if de- 
sired, cause this disorder. 

This is not a treatise on starvation, but it may 
be as well to drop here a hint that sheep that have 
been starved near to death for some time are not 
usually profitable animals to buy, since they take 
a long time to recover and many will die in the 
process unless great care is used in building them, 
up again. The writer has known instances of fam- 
ishing sheep being bought for a few cents each on 
some dried-up and overstocked range, shipped to 
other more fruitful ranges distant some ways and 
there turned out on good grass. They died rapidly, 
however, and continued to die for some time after 
being placed on the good feed. 

IMPOETANCE OF POST-MOETEM DISSECTION". 

The novice in sheep breeding and feeding, or the 
old hand for that matter, should take frequent op- 
portunity of post-mortem examination of a sheep 
recently dead, seeking to see whether the cause of 
death is from disordered digestion or parasitic in- 



318 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

fection. It is useless to dissect a sheep that has 
been dead for some days, and even after the lapse 
of a few hours there will often be misleading ap- 
pearances, as of blood settling in one part or an- 
other, that will cause him to form very curious con- 
clusions as to the cause of death and miss the real 
cause entirely. It would be amusing if it were not 
so annoying to read the letters from sheep owners 
attempting to describe the symptoms of their sick 
sheep and the results found after making crude 
post-mortem examination. 

Let us rest the case here; that only careful, reg- 
ular and judicious feeding will prevent death in the 
barn and feedlot and that medication for ^^ water 
belly'' or retention of urine and for serious indi- 
gestion has never yet proved of use. The fact is 
that the sheep suffering from slight indigestion is 
not readily detected among hundreds, and when its 
case is obvious it is generally too far gone to be 
helped by any known treatment whatever. 

OTHER DISEASES OF SHEEP. 

Of a long list of diseases that sheep may some- 
times be afflicted with, such as rheumatism, apo- 
plexy, goitre, pining, humping, erysipelas, actino- 
mycosis, tetanus, rabies, sheep pox, and a lot of 
other diseases usually catalogued, the writer has 
seldom seen an instance in his own flocks, and if he 
had seen it would have felt powerless to help, with 
all the knowledge of specialists available. Sheep 
are said to suffer sometimes from blackleg, but it 



THE DISEASES OF SHEEP 319 

is rarely if over reported in America, and in Eng- 
land, on the extremely fertile pastures of Kent, 
sheep suffer from anthrax. This disease is rare in- 
deed in America among sheep. 

Sheep do not suffer from tuberculosis, at least 
the disease is exceedingly rare among them in 
America or elsewhere. 

In truth, of the long list of diseases usually cata- 
logued as occurring in sheep the shepherd will not 
in his lifetime observe more than one or two, always 
excepting the diseases that come from internal or 
external parasites, from unwise feeding and from 
garget of the udder. 

It is wise, therefore, to study carefully the ques- 
tion of the internal parasite and to learn ways of 
management that will avoid them. This learned, all 
the long catalogue of diseases may repose serenely 
upon the library shelf, since the occurrence of an 
instance of any of them save one in the flock will 
be of the rarest. 

GARGET OR MAMMITIS. 

This is a disease that affects the udders of the 
very best and largest milking ewes, preferring those 
that are best bred and most coddled. The symp- 
toms are a hard, distended udder, from which 
watery or serum-like milk may be drawn, which 
often becomes streaked with blood and sometimes 
with pus. The flesh of the udder is often red or 
purple and upon pressure can be dented with the 
hand. The ewe has fever and distress, milk secre- 



320 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

tion ceases, the udder mortifies and if the ewe lives 
long enough it sloughs off, leaving a sore slow to 
heal. In mild cases the symptoms are very much 
less severe and the ewe soon recovers, losing per- 
haps the use of one quarter of her udder. 

One of the causes that led the author to attempt 
this work was his despair of finding light on this 
and some other subjects in any existent book that 
had come to his notice. The causes usually assigned 
to the production of garget are lying on the cold 
ground, bunting by lambs or from having too much 
milk for the lamb to take clean. Doubtless all these 
things are evils, but the writer is convinced that 
the cause of garget is something quite apart from 
any of them. 

Probably there are two forms of garget, caused 
by different things and running different courses. 
Too much milk in the udder caused by the death or 
removal of a lamb, may cause caked bag and injure 
a portion of the udder, but that is a far different 
disease from the malignant garget that has often 
nearly broken the heart of the writer and of his 
younger brother, upon whose shoulders the mantle 
of shepherding on Woodland Farm has fallen. In- 
deed, excepting that the seat of the disease is in 
the udder, there are no symptoms in common with 
the two diseases. The writer has never seen a case 
of caked bag result fatally and but one or two of 
real garget recover — those after a long period of 
healing when the entire udder had sloughed off. 

The writer believes that all the cases of malig- 



TPIE DISEASES OF SHEEP 321 

nant garget that have come under his observatioi) 
have had a common cause (not one mentioned in the 
books), a sudden increase in the food of the ewe, 
resulting in perhaps some morbid change in her 
blood that going to the udder, shortly after her 
lambing (the period has sometimes been as long 
perhaps as two weeks thereafter) and finding there 
the causative germ has set up there the great and 
rapid destruction of live tissue that is seen. Doubt- 
less the disease is caused by the multiplication of 
microbes coming from an introduced germ, equally 
doubtless the conditions must be right for the de- 
velopment of that germ. And the right conditions 
seem to be the derangement of the blood by too 
much food, especially by feeding with corn (maize). 

A skilled veterinarian once related to the writer 
that he had never dissected the udder of a cow 
without finding therein, within the milk ducts, 
germs or bacteria that he considered the agents 
that cause bovine garget. How the germs got there 
he could not tell. When conditions were right for 
the germ it multiplied and did its work of destruc- 
tion. AVlien conditions were right for the cow it 
remained, waiting. This is probably the explana- 
tions also in the case of the ewe. 

Corn feeding of milking ewes has apparently in- 
duced most of the cases of malignant garget that 
have come under the writer's observation. Indeed 
he has seen a fine ewe, proud of her two beautiful 
lambs, with an udder like a Jersey cow, break into 
the lot of feeding lambs and gorge herself with corn j 



322 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

he has predicted at once that she would come down 
with garget, and has seen his sombre prediction ver- 
itied ; has had the sad task of trying to find mothers 
for the two worse than orphans and nursed the 
mother for weeks till at last, ghost of her former 
self, she went with the flock again, her ndder com- 
pletely gone and only a partly healed surface to 
show where it had sloughed off. 

The books prescribe for malignant garget hot 
water, camphor, applied externally, and epsom salts 
and iron and quinine taken internally. The writer 
after faithful efforts with hot water and all the rest 
of the remedies does not feel that he has ever in 
one instance even mitigated the horrors of this form 
of garget, so will not burden the reader with his 
recipes. Let the shepherd experiencing his first 
instance of trouble resolve that hereafter his ewes 
shall have the most gradual increase in feed after 
lambing; that they will be given little corn and 
more bran, oats and early-cut clover or alfalfa hay, 
with roots or silage to make milk and that by this 
means he can prevent future inflictions of this na- 
ture. 

For the simpler forms of caked bag, however, hot 
water applications are doubtless good, with rub- 
bings of camphor and belladonna, and some have 
recom^mended counter irritants like kerosene oil. 
This form will never occur either if the shepherd 
will keep the ewe milked out after lambing, and 
perhaps sometimes just before lambing if she is a 
wonderful milker, and will feed right, taking care 



THE DISEASES OF SHEEP 323 

also at weaning- time that tlie udder does not become 
congested with undrawn milk. 

GKUB IN THE HEAD. 

Most of the sheep books have chapters on this 
disease. It seems therefore the duty of the writer 
to speak of it also, though he must confess that his 
practical experience with the pest has been very 
small. This may be because his flocks have almost 
always had shade or dark barn basements in which 
to lie during the heat of the da}^, conditions not con- 
ducive to the deposition of the eggs that hatching 
in the nostrils of the sheep crawl up into the sinuses 
of the nose and form the mature grubs. It may be, 
also, that well nourished sheep the more easily repel 
the grubs, or endure them with least inconvenience. 

There is no cure for grubs, once they are estab- 
lished. They cannot crawl into the brain of the 
sheep. They will come out of their own accord in 
due time. They change into a fly that in turn lays 
eggs for more grubs. You cannot do anything ex- 
cept to feed well the sheep. ''Grub in the belly is 
a cure for grub in the head'' is an old saying. Tar 
on the noses will let the sheep eat in comfort ; once 
shepherds bored holes in logs and put salt in the 
bottom of the holes and pine tar around them. 
Sheep eating the salt g-ot the tar around their nos- 
trils. These supplies needed replenishing daily, or 
oftener. Easier is the darkened shed for the sheep 
to lie in. The shepherd is apt to forget to freshen 
the tar. Moreover the shade, especially the dark- 



324 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

ened l)arn basement, conduces to the general comfort 
and thrift of the sheep. 



This terrible disease has caused in the past great 
havoc in the old world. It is less prevalent there 
since men underdrained their lands. It is a para- 
sitic disease; the parasite passing one stage of its 
life in the liver of the sheep, the other in the body 
of a snail. If there is no water for the snail (a 
water species is chosen) the flukes cannot propa- 
gate. There is very little if any of the disease in 
America. 

NODULAR DISEASE. 

This is the disease commonly called by butchers 
* 'knotty guts." It is characterized by small tu- 
mors on the intestines, the tumors tilled with a 
greenish cheesy substance. The disease is caused 
by a small worm about an inch long, called oesoph- 
agostoma columbianum. The worm thrives in spite 
of its name. This worm seems a distinctly Ameri- 
can species, inhabiting deer, goats and sheep, possi- 
bly rabbits. Wliat it does to the sheep is to interfere 
with the digestion and assimilation of food. It 
works its way gradually into a flock and brings 
ruin to it. There is said to be no cure. Its prog- 
ress is usually slow and it takes as a rule years to 
kill a sheep. The way of spreading is by infecting 
the soil and grass through the excrements of the 
afflicted sheep. Therefore when sheep are so man- 
aged that lambs do not graze much behind their 



TI-IE DISEASES OF SHEEP 325 

mothers tliey will not become affected. Presuma- 
bly the contamination of the soil will not last longer 
than one year. This point we hope will be demon- 
strated by our national or state experiment stations 
before long. It is a vital necessity to know that of 
both the nodular disease and the stomach worm. 
Thus it is evident that a healthy flock can be pro- 
duced by keeping apart the infection-free young 
sheep from the infected older ones, and fattening 
and marketing the older ones as fast as practi- 
cable. Little or nothing in the way of medication 
can be done to cure the afflicted sheep. Prevention 
of the disease by right treatment of the young ones 
is the thing to be aimed at. 

TAPEWOKMS. 

There are occasionally outbreaks of disease 
caused by tapeworms. Montana and the Dakotas 
have suffered from these outbreaks, also various 
regions in the eastern states. The writer has never 
observed a case of this kind upon the farm occu- 
pied by himself and his brothers and attributes this 
freedom from infection in part at least to the free 
feeding of pumpkins in the fall of almost every 
year. Pum.pkin seeds are well-known vermifuges 
of great value. 

The tapeworm of sheep, taenia expansa, varies 
in length from three to six yards. It is from one 
twenty-fifth of an inch in breadth at the head to 
one-half an inch at the tail. In appearance it is a 
dull white. It causes scouring, loss of red blood, 



326 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

wliite skin, emaciation, weakness and sometimes 
death. 

Treatment should be given to each one of the 
affected flock. Prepare them for treatment by 
lasting for 12 hours. After being treated they 
should be confined for 24 hours so that the seg- 
ments of the tapeworm expelled will not be scat- 
tered over the fields to further infect them. The 
sheep should after treatment has been deemed sat- 
isfactory be put on clean fresh ground. 

Dr. Eushworth always prescribes kamala for 
tapeworms. The dose is three drams mixed well 
in three ounces of linseed gruel, this dose for adult 
sheep. Lambs will require from one to two 
drams, according to their size. 

Any medicine administered to a sheep should be 
given with the sheep standing in a natural position, 
with its head raised not too high, and given slowly, 
so that it may pass at once into the fourth stomach. 
If it passes into the paunch it will probably not do 
much good. 

If the kamala does not prove effective Eushworth 
advises giving ethereal extract of male shield fern, 
one dram; castor oil, four ounces; mix and give as 
a dose to mature sheep. Lambs can have from one 
to three-fourths of this dose. 

A tonic is then prescribed consisting of salt, 2 
pounds ; epsom salts, 1 pound ; sulphate of iron, one- 
half pound; powdered gentian, one-half pound; 
nitrate of potash, 4 ounces. This is to be mixed to- 
gether and fed to 100 sheep, in oats, bran or other 



THE DISEASES OP SHEEP 327 

feed. The writer believes good feed and change of 
pasture will make unnecessary much tonic. 

HUSK^ HOOSE OR PARASITIC BRONCHITIS. 

There is a minute parasitic worm called Strong- 
ylus filaria that inhabits the bronchial tubes, caus- 
ing the animal to cough and run at the nose, some- 
times bringing death. In the opinion of the writer 
this is fortunately not a very prevalent disease in 
America. The remedy is thought to be to fumigate 
with sulphur. The writer has tried the remedy and 
though the lambs treated did not have the disease 
for which he treated them they mostly survived 
the operation. What they had, and what most 
coughing, emaciated lambs have, is a related para- 
site, of far more import to us all, the dreaded stom- 
ach worm. 

THE STOMACH WORM. 

This little worm is but % of an inch long and 
about as thick as a hair. It lives in the fourth 
stomach and especially afflicts lambs. It causes the 
diseases (or symptoms, rather) of ''paper skin," 
''black scours," "lamb cholera" and so on. It 
attacks lambs at any age after they begin to nibble 
grass until cool weather comes in the fall. It is 
the smallest parasite yet mentioned in this list of 
diseases and has wrought a hundred times the havoc 
that all others have together. It has devastated 
whole regions so that the sheep industry has been 
given up and men have taken to breeding swine in- 
stead. The stomach worm is responsible for gullied 



328 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

hillsideS; abandoned farms, and boys leaving the 
farms. It is not a new pest but in olden time when 
sheep suffered from it men did not know the cause. 
Many years ago it swept over Ohio, decimating the 
Merino flocks, and over all the states of the corn- 
belt. Then no remedy was known, nor was it un- 
derstood whence came infection or how immunity 
could be had. Now we know all this and the stom- 
ach worm has lost some of its terrors to the intelli- 
gent and watchful shepherd. 

This fourth stomach of the sheep is just where 
the intestines attach and where an important part 
of the digestion takes place. When it is filled with 
these tiny worms digestion is wonderfully disturbed 
and the lamb loses tone, the wool appears dead, the 
skin loses its pinkness, the appetite is deranged. 
The lamb may scour or may be constipated. It 
eats earth or rotten wood in the latter stages of 
the disease. There may come a dropsical swelling 
beneath the under jaw. This is not a disease, only 
a symptom of the disease. 

Depend upon it, if it is May, or from then till 
October, and your lambs are droopy, languid, their 
wool dead looking, their skins chalky, they have 
stomach worms. Just catch one, kill it, dissect it at 
once and examine the fourth stomach with care. 
You will surely see there the little writhing ser- 
pents that do the mischief. 

These worms inhabit old sheep too, but do not 
do much harm. The life history is like this: the 
worms become mature in the body of the older 



THE DISEASES OF SHEEP 329 

slieep and pass out, laden with eggs about to liatcli. 
The little worms do something, we do not know what, 
to get back into the sheep again. Probably they 
crawl up a little way on the grass. The lambs come 
along and nibbling close on tender grass where the 
ewes' excrements have been dropped take in the 
worms. They mature in the lamb and raise havoe 
there as we have said. 

Fortunately cold weather either numbs or de- 
stroys these worms so that there is no danger of 
infection in winter, late fall or early spring. 

Elsewhere, in management, the prevention of 
stomach worms is described. Here we will concern 
ourselves with the cure of afflicted lambs. The 
writer has dosed hundreds. For a number of years 
he has on the same farm had no cases to doctor. 
Moral: there is something in management. But 
there is something in cure also. Therefore the 
writer appends parts of bulletin of the IT. S. Bureau 
of Animal Industry prepared by B. H. Ransom, 
March, 1907. The writer has faith in the gasoline 
treatment and was the first man in America to ad- 
minister it. His brother has had better success 
with carbolic acid than coaltar creosote, using 12 
drops for a mature sheep, given in milk. The bul- 
letin follows : 

The stomach worm of sheep, known to zoologists 
as Haemonchus contortus, is generally recognized as 
one of the most serious pests with which the sheep 
raiser has to contend. Sheep of all ages are sub- 
ject to infection, and cattle and goats as well as 



330 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

various wild ruminants may also harbor tlie para- 
site. The most serious effects of stomach-worm in- 
fection are seen in lambs, while full-grown sheep, 
although heavily infested, may show no apparent 
symptoms of disease. It is from these, however, 
through the medium of the pasture, that the lambs 
become infected. 

SYMPTOMS AND DIAGNOSIS. 

Among the symptoms which have been described 
for stomach-worm disease probably the most fre- 
quent are anemia, loss of flesh, general weakness, 
dullness, capricious appetite, thirst, and diarrhea. 
The anemic condition is seen in the paleness of the 
skin and mucous membranes of the mouth and eye, 
and in the watery swellings which often develop 
under the lower jaw. A more certain diagnosis 
may be made by killing one of the flock and opening 
the fourth stomach. The contents of the fourth 
stomach are allowed to settle gently, and by care- 
fully watching the liquid the parasites, if present 
in any considerable numbers, will be seen actively 
wriggling about like little snakes from one-half to 
1% inches long and about as thick as an ordinary 
pin. 

LIFE HISTORY OF THE STOMACH WORM. 

The worms in the stomach produce eggs of mi- 
croscopic size, which pass out of the body in the 
droppings and are thus scattered broadcast over 
the pasture. If the temperature is above 40° to 50° 
F. the eggs hatch out, requiring from a few hours 



THE DISEASES OF SHEEP 331 

to two weeks, according as the temperature is high 
or low. When the temperature is below 40° F. the 
eggs remain dormant, and in this condition may re- 
tain their vitality for two or three months, after- 
wards hatching out if the weather becomes warmer. 
Freezing or drying soon kills the unhatched eggs. 
The tiny worm which hatches from the eggs feeds 
upon the organic matter in the manure, and grows 
until it is nearly one-thirtieth of an inch in length. 
Further development then ceases until the worm is 
swallowed by a sheep or other ruminant, after 
which it again begins to grow, and reaches matu- 
rity in the fourth stomach of its host in two to 
three weeks. The chances of the young worms be- 
ing swallowed are greatly increased by the fact that 
they crawl up blades of grass whenever sufficient 
moisture — such as dew, rain, or fog — is present, 
provided also that the temperature is above 40° F. 
When the temperature is below 40° F. the forms 
are inactive. 

The young worms which have reached the stage 
when they are ready to be taken into the body are 
greatly resistant to cold and dryness; they will 
stand repeated freezing, and have been ke{)t in a 
dried condition for thirty-five days, afterwards re- 
viving when moisture was added. At a tempera- 
ture of about 70° F. young worms have been kept 
alive for as long as six months, and the infection 
in inclosures (near Washington, D. C.) which has 
been pastured by infested sheep did not die out in 
over seven months, including the winter, the inclo- 



332 SPIEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

sures having been left vacant from Oct. 25 to 
June 16. It is uncertain whether infection in fields 
from which sheep have been removed will die out 
more rapidly during warm weather or during cold 
weather; experiments on this point are under way, 
but have not been sufficiently completed for definite 
statements to be made. It is, however, safe to say 
that a field which has had no sheep, cattle, or goats 
upon it for a year will be practically free from in- 
fection, and fields which have had no sheep or other 
ruminants upon them following cultivation may also 
be safely used. The time required for a clean pas- 
ture to become infectious after infested sheep are 
placed upon it depends upon the temperature; that 
is, the field does not become infectious until the 
eggs of the parasites contained in the droppings 
of the sheep have hatched out and the young worms 
have developed to the final larval stage, and the 
rapidity of this development depends upon the tem- 
perature. It may be stated here that neither the 
eggs nor the newly hatched worms are infectious 
and only those worms which have reached the final 
larval stage are able to continue their development 
when swallowed. This final larval stage is reached 
in three to four days after the eggs have passed 
out of the body of the host if the temperature re- 
mains constantly at about 95° F. At 70° F,, six 
to fourteen days are required, and at 46" to 57° 
F., aggregating about 50° F., three to four weeks 
are necessary for the eggs to hatch and the young 
worms to develop to the infectious stage. At tem- 



THE DISEASES OF SHEEP 333 

peratures below 40° F., as already stated, the eggs 
remain dormant. 

METHODS OF PKEVENTING INFECTION. 

It is evident from the foregoing statements that 
in the northern part of the United States, under 
usyal climatic conditions, infested and non-infested 
sheep may be placed together in clean fields the last 
of October or first of November and kept there nntil 
March or even later, according to the weather, with 
little or no danger of the non-infested sheep be- 
coming infected. If moved then to another clean 
field they may remain there nearly the entire month 
of April before there is danger of infection. From 
the 1st of May on through the summer the pastures 
become infectious much more quickly after infested 
sheep are placed upon them, and during May it 
would be necessary to move the sheep at the end of 
every two weeks, in June at the end of every ten 
days, and in July and August at the end of each 
week, in order to prevent the non-infested sheep 
from becoming infected from the worms present 
in the rest of the flock. After the 1st of September 
the period may again be lengthened. This method 
of preventing infection in lambs would require a 
considerable number of small pastures or subdivi 
sions of large pastures, and in many instances could 
not be profitably employed, but in cases where it 
could be used it would undoubtedly prove very effec- 
tive. By the time the next lamb crop appeared the 
pastures used the year before would have re- 



334 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

mained vacant long enongii for the infection to have 
disappeared, and would consequently again be ready 
for use. By continuing this rotation from year to 
year, not only would each crop of lambs be protected 
from infection, but as reinfection of the infested 
ewe flock is prevented at the same time, the para- 
site would in a few years be entirely eradicated 
from the flock and pastures. The result to be gained 
is worth the effort where this plan is practicable. 

If such frequent rotation is not possible or prac- 
ticable, a smaller number of pastures may be util- 
ized, after the ewe flock has been treated with ver- 
mifuges. The treatment may be given either before 
or after the birth of the lambs. If before, the ewes 
should be treated before pregnancy is too far ad- 
vanced in order to avoid possible bad results from 
the handling necessary in treatment. Probably the 
best time for treatment is late in the fall or early 
in the winter. The treated sheep should be placed 
immediately on clean pasture in order to avoid re- 
infection. The object of treating the ewes is to get 
rid of the worms with which they are infested, and 
thus remove the source from which the pasture be- 
comes contamimnated. If it were possible by treat- 
ment to entirely free the old sheep from stomach 
worms, it is evident that the lambs would remain 
free from infection, provided, of course, that the 
flock were afterwards kept on clean pasture. Un- 
fortunately, there is no vermifuge known which can 
always be depended upon to remove all of the 
worms, but it is possible to get rid of most of them, 



THE DISEASES OF SHEEP 335 

and thus greatly reduce the amount of infection to 
which the lambs will be exposed. 

Two other methods may be suggested by which 
lambs can be kept free from infection with stomach 
worms. 

1. It is assumed that a large pasture is available 
which has had no sheep, goats, or cattle upon it for 
a year, if a permanent pasture, or since cultivation, 
if a seeded pasture. This pasture is subdivided into 
two by a double line of fence, and a drainage ditch 
is run along the alley between the two fences. At 
one end of the alley between the two subdivisions a 
small yard is constructed, communicating with 
each of the subdivisions by means of a gate. When 
the lambs are born they are placed in one of the 
subdivisions and the ewes are jjlaced in the other. 
The small yard should be kept free of vegetation 
and must not drain into the lamb pasture. As 
often as necessary the lambs are allowed in the 
small yard with the ewes for sucking. The rest of 
the time the lambs and the ewes are kept separate 
in their respective pastures. By this arrangement 
the lambs are exposed to infection only while they 
are in the small yard, where they may become in- 
fected either by embryos of the stomach worm pres- 
ent on the manure-soiled skin of the infested ewe, 
or by embryos picked up from the ground which 
has been contaminated by the droppings of the 
ewes. The chances of infection from the skin of 
the ewe are so slight that in practice this source 
of infection need not be considered. The danger 



336 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

of infection from the ground may be avoided by 
frequently removing the manure from tlie yard and 
keeping the surface sprinkled with lime and salt. 
The lambs and ewes will soon learn the way to their 
proper pastures, and after a few days little diffi- 
culty will be experienced in separating them each 
time after the lambs are through sucking. 

2. Another plan which may be followed where 
the climatic conditions are suitable — that is, in re- 
gions where there is a cold winter season — is that of 
having the lambs born at a time of year when there 
will be no danger of their becoming infected during 
the sucking period, and weaning and separating 
them from the rest of the flock before the advent of 
warm weather. Under the usual climatic conditions 
of the State of Ohio, for instance, if the lambs are 
born in the latter part of October or the first of 
November they may remain with the ewes on fields 
which have not been previously occupied by sheep, 
goats or cattle within a year — or, if cultivated fields, 
since cultivation — until the following March without 
danger of becoming infected, since the eggs in the 
droppings of the infested ewes will not hatch out 
during this time of year because of the cold weather. 
The use of fields not previously occupied by sheep, 
goats, or cattle within a year, or since cultivation, 
is necessary, since otherwise the fields might be al- 
ready infected with young worms which had hatched 
out and reached the infectious stage before the be- 
ginning of cold weather, and the lambs would pos- 
sibly be liable to infection from picking up these 



THE DISEASES OF SHEEP 337 

young worms, which are not killed hy cold weather 
after they have reached the final stage of larval 
development. When they are weaned the lambs 
must, of course, he placed on clean pasture, if they 
are to continue free from infection. With this 
method only two clean pastures are necessary, one 
in which the ewes and lambs are placed in the fall, 
and another for the lambs when they are weaned in 
March. Thus started in life free from the chance of 
infection, the shepherd may more surely count on 
profit from his lambs. 

Fortunately for this scheme, it is always possible 
to have lambs born early during the winter season; 
and with additional clean pastures a modification 
of the foregoing method may be used in the case 
of lambs born toward the end of the winter or in 
the spring. In the northern United States lambs 
born the first of February for example, may be 
kept with their mothers in a clean field or pasture 
until the last of March, as in the case of those 
born at the beginning of winter, but unlike the latter 
they will not then be old enough to wean. Accord- 
ingly they are not separated from the rest of the 
flock, but the ewes and lambs are moved together 
to a second clean pasture April 1. May 1 they are 
moved to a third clean pasture. May 15 they are 
moved again, and finally the lambs are weaned June 
1 at the age of four months, and moved by them- 
selves to a clean pasture. In the case of lambs 
born the first of March and weaned the first of July 
three additional clean pastures would be required 



338 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

for use during the month of June, and with later 
Iambs a still greater number of pastures would be 
necessary. 

TKEATMENT FOR STOMACH WORMS. 

Among the remedies which may be used to re- 
move stomach worms may be mentioned coaltar 
creosote, bluestone, and gasoline. 

The animals to be treated should be deprived of 
feed for twelve to sixteen or even twenty-four hours 
before they are dosed, and in case blues tone is used 
should receive no water on the day they are dosed, 
either before or after dosing. In drenching, a long- 
necked bottle or a drenching tube may be used. In 
case a bottle is used the dose to be given may be 
first measured off, poured into the bottle, and the 
point marked on the outside of the bottle with a 
file, so that subsequent doses may be measured in 
the bottle itself. A simple form of drenching tube 
consists of a piece of rubber tubing about 3 feet 
long and one-half inch in diameter, with an ordi- 
nary tin funnel inserted in one end and a piece of 
brass or iron tubing 4 to 6 inches long and of 
suitable diameter inserted in the other end. In use 
the metal tube is placed in the animaPs mouth be- 
tween the back teeth, and the dose is poured into 
the funnel, which is either held by an assistant or 
fastened to a post. The flow of liquid through the 
tube is controlled by pinching the rubber tubing 
near the point of union with the metal tube. It is 
important not to raise the animal's head too high 
on account of the danger of the dose entering the 



THE DISEASES OF SHEEP 339 

lungs. Tlie nose sliould not be raised liiglier than 
the level of the eyes. The animal may he dosed 
either standing on all fours or set upon its haunches. 
It has been found by experiment that if the dose 
is taken quietly most of it will pass directly to the 
fourth stomach when the animal is dosed in a stand- 
ing position, and that when the animal is placed on 
its haunches only a part of the dose passes imme- 
diately to the fourth stomach. From this it is evi- 
dent that the position on all fours is preferable, 
as more of the dose passes to the place where its 
action is required. 

Great care should be used not only in dosing to 
avoid the entrance of the liquid into the lungs, but 
also in the preparation and administration of tlie 
remedy so that the solution may not be too strong 
or the dose too large. 

COALTAR CEEOSOTE. 

Good results have been obtained from a single 
dose of a 1 per cent solution of coaltar creosote. 
This solution is made by shaking together 1 ounce 
of coaltar creosote and 99 ounces (6 pints 3 ounces) 
of water. The doses of this 1 per cent mixture 
recommended by Stiles are as follows : 

Lambs 4 to 12 months old 2 to 4 ounces. 

Yearling sheep and above 3 to 5 ounces. 

Calves 3 to 8 months old 5 to 10 ounces. 

Yearling steers 1 pint. 

Two-yoar-olds and above 1 quart. 

Coaltar creosote seems almost identical (as pur- 
chased usually) with the coaltar dips on the market. 



340 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

C. C. Jones of Filmore Farms lias had splendid suc- 
cess with it. In a discussion of parasites and their 
preventive, Mr. Jones said he used coaltar dip, mix- 
ing 1 ounce of the dip with 4 ounces of water, giv- 
ing it as a drench, with apparent good results. He 
feeds tobacco regularly and has lost no lambs. He 
decries late lambing and urges that Dorsets be 
lambed from September to March, and none allowed 
to come later than the middle of March. He states 
that the prescribed dose of coaltar dip is for a lamb 
4 to 6 months old. 

BLUESTO'NE. 

Bluestone, or copper sulphate, has been exten- 
sively used in South Africa in the treatment of 
sheep for stomach worms and is recommended by 
the colonial veterinary surgeon of Cape Colony as 
the best and safest remedy. His directions are to 
take 1 pound avoirdupois of pure bluestone, powder 
it fine, and dissolve in nine and one-half United 
States gallons of warm water. It is better to first 
dissolve the bluestone in 2 to 4 quarts of boiling 
water, then add the remaining quantity in cold wa- 
ter, and mix thoroughly. This solution is given in 
the following-sized doses : 

Lambs 3 months old % ounce. 

Lambs 6 months old 1 % ounces. 

Sheep 12 months old 2% ounces. 

Sheep 18 months old 3 ounces. 

Sheep 24 months old 0V2 ounces. 

In making up the solution only clear blue crystals 
of bluestone should be used. Bluestone with white 
patches or crusts should be rejected. It is espe- 



THE DISEASES OF SHEEP 341 

cially important that the bluestone and water be ac- 
curately weighed and measured, and that the size of 
the dose be graduated according to the age of the 
sheep. 

GASOLIJTE. 

Gasoline is one of the most popular remedies for 
stomach worms which has been used in this country 
and has the particular advantage of being readily 
obtained. It is important to repeat the dose if the 
gasoline treatment is employed, and it is usual to 
administer the treatment on three successive days, 
as follows: 

The evening before the first treatment is to be 
given the animals are shut up without feed or water 
and are dosed about 10 o'clock the next morning. 
Three hours later they are allowed feed and water, 
and at night they are again shut up without feed or 
water. The next morning the second dose is given, 
and the third morning the third dose, the treatment 
before and after dosing being the same in each case. 

The sizes of the doses are as follows : 

Lambs % ounce. 

Sheep % ounce. 

Calves % ounce. 

Yearling steers 1 ounce. 

The dose for each animal is measured and mixed 
separately in linseed oil, milk, or flaxseed tea, and 
administered by means of a bottle or drenching 
tube. Gasoline should not be given in water. 

OTHER REMEDIES. 

Many other remedies in addition to those men- 
tioned here have been used in the treatment of 



342 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

stomach worm disease with more or less success. 
Several of the coaltar dips on the market are rec- 
ommended by the manufacturers for the treatment 
of worms, and the action of some of them is much 
the same as that of coaltar creosote. 

The Department of Agriculture does not recom- 
mend the use of any particular proprietary remedy, 
and as the action of some such agents is very un- 
certain it is suggested that, if it is desired to use 
them, they be used with caution and only in ac- 
cordance with the printed directions on the package. 
Whatever remedy is used, it is wise to test it on 
two or three animals before the entire flock is dosed. 

START WITH A HEALTHY FLOCK. 

It may be that the reader has a flock of diseased 
sheep. He has had much trouble with stomacli 
worms, or the nodular disease has invaded the flock, 
or he has had bad losses from tapeworms. Shall he 
therefore go out of business? 

That, indeed, may be his best course. To get rid 
of the diseased flock, first fattening the sheep as 
well as possible, and to let the land rest for two 
years will be quite sure to make the land clean, 
ready for a new flock. But there are certain objec- 
tions to this course. First, he gets out of touch 
with the sheep industry, and that is bad. Then he 
begins to devote his land to other purposes and it 
is harder to again start with a flock. And there is 
the very real and practical difficulty that it is im- 
possible to be sure that the new flock is free from 



THE DISEASES OF SHEEP 343 

the enemies that led to the discarding of the oki 
ones. 

The sheplierd may take advantage of the fact that 
lambs are born healthy to start anew with a clean 
flock, even thongli the ewes were tainted. Infection 
will not come from the mother's milk, unless in rare 
instances from the fouling of her udder. If she has 
a clean bed there is small risk of that. If she is 
scouring she should not be put in the company of 
ewes devoted to this purpose. 

The ewes should be bred as early as practicable, 
so that their lambs will come if possible in Novem- 
ber, December or January. That is because in 
northern situations there is practically no danger 
of infection anywhere, indoors or out, in cold weath- 
er. Ewes and lambs should all be well fed to en- 
courage a vigorous growth. 

When warm weather begins to come in April the 
ewes should be confined rigidly to the barn and 
small yard. In that yard there should not be per- 
mitted to grow even a single weed or spear of grass. 
This rule must be absolute. The yard must be small 
and kept always perfectly clean. If it is not the 
lambs may nibble at some plant and from its lower 
lengths, or roots, imbide the germs that we are seek- 
ing to avoid. 

Nor should there be any feed thrown into the 
yard. Furthermore, the hayracks should be kept 
clean and tlie water pure at all times. 

As fast as ewes cease giving a good milk flow 
they should be removed to another pen and thus 



344 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

their contact removed, with a per cent of the danger. 

When grass comes the lambs should be taken to 
a field where no sheep ran the previous year ; where 
no sheep manure has been spread the previous year, 
and where no stream or pool could bring germs from 
some other flock. Once established there no other 
sheep should for an instant be permitted to mingle 
with them. 

The ewes, if there is room on the farm, may be 
kept over for another crop of lambs, since it will 
take two crops to produce enough ewe lambs to make 
up their number. After that all that are not of this 
youthful blood and free from infection should be 
sold and the youngsters given possession. 

At all times there should be this thought: Has 
there been opportunity during the past year for 
any sheep to drop germs with their manure upon 
this land? If the answer is Yes, then do not permit 
the lambs and yearlings of the clean flock to graze 
upon that ground for an instant. 

The extra cost of this method of producing a 
perfectly healthly ewe flock is almost nothing. A 
trifle of care, a constant thoughtfulness, a few hours 
labor, and the result : a banishment of the torments 
that render 60 per cent of farm flocks in the corn- 
belt diseased and comparatively unprofitable. 

And having a healthy flock, absolutely without 
parasites, they will remain so if the germs are not 
brought in by something added to the flock. It is 
barely possible that rabbits may carry some of the 
same parasites that afflict sheep, as also do goats and 



THE DISEASES OF SHEEP 345 

deer. Aside from tliem there are no other carriers 
of these germs so far as we know. Unfortunately 
we must purchase rams or else practice inbreeding. 
The writer is inclined to think that with strong, 
well-bred, vigorous stock once secured it is wiser 
to inbreed for a time rather than to risk purchasing 
a new starter of germs with an uncertain ram. 
However, the ram himself may be put in quarantine 
on his arrival, permitted to associate with the flock 
only when he can be of use to it and at all other 
times have his own quarters, a grassy paddock with 
shed attached. 

Thus, without giving a dose of medicine or apply- 
ing to the soil any lime, salt, corrosive sublimate or 
iron sulphate, the farm secures clean pastures, 
stocked with clean sheep. 

Following the thought of destroying the parasites 
in the soil, as is frequently advised, by applications 
of lime, salt or chemicals, the writer would call to 
the attention of the reader the folly of the proposal. 
There is in an acre 43,560 square feet. Supposing 
that we desired to purify that soil to a depth of one 
foot, not an unreasonable depth, there is then to 
purify 43,560 cubic feet of soil. It would take at 
least a pound of salt to destroy germ life in a cubic 
foot of soil ; it is doubtful if that would suffice, so 
that about 21 tons of salt to the acre would be re- 
quired. Of lime probably two or three times as 
much would be needed, and when it comes to apply- 
ing chemicals one had better halt, for he will have 
destroyed his land before he will have killed the 



346 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

germs; that much is sure. And why do this thing, 
when all these germs will perish (we believe) in one 
year unless they find their host, a sheep, deer or 
goat, in which to undergo part of their life cycle! 

The writer is very glad to give credit to Dr. W. 
H. Dalrymple of Louisiana, for having performed 
by far the most useful series of experiments ever 
made in attempting to rid sheep of parasites in much 
the manner that he has described in the foregoing 
paragraphs. It is remarkable that a far southern 
state should undertake a work fraught with so much 
import to men in the sheep growing regions further 
north, the explanation of course being that Dr. 
Dalrymple is a Scot. 



CHAPTER XL 
THE ANGORA AND MILKING GOATS. 

It may not be out of place in this work to give a 
little information concerning' the Angora goat, 
which is now becoming so well and favorably known. 

Indeed the sudden arrival of the Angora into pub- 
lic appreciation and its very wide distribution will 
make an interesting chapter in the history of Amer- 
ican live stock. 

THE ANGOEA GOAT. 

While not meaning to wander far into the realms 
of goat lore yet a few words concerning this work: 
So late as 1897 the tirst large number of goats were 
sent from Texas to Iowa as an experiment in brush 
destruction, going to J. E. Standley. These goats 
'^ grubbed the land, brought in grass and boarded 
themselves, besides yielding a profit." Other ship- 
ments followed. They also were successful. Since 
that time goats have been introduced into every 
state and territory of the United States and into 
Alaska and the Hawaiian Islands. Usually they 
have accomplished their object; they have destroyed 
brush, and grass has followed in their footsteps. 
Then came a demand for goats and inquiry con- 
cerning them. Several kinds of disappointments 
1mve followed the introduction of so-called ^^An- 

(347) 



348 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

goras" into new neighborhoods. To answer some 
of the many questions arising in connection with 
this subject this chapter is written. Breeders of 
Angora goats should have one of the following- 
works : ''New Industry, or Raising the Angora Goat 
and Mohair for profit, ' ' by Wm. L. Black of Texas ; 
''Angora Goat Eaising and Milch Goats," by George 
Fayette Thompson, or "The Angora Goat," by S. 
C. C. Schreiner (Longmans, Green & Co.). Schrein- 
er's work is a classic, a thing of beauty. Thompson 
is concise and practical, enthusiastic enough, and 
tells besides much about milking goats. Black is 
an earnest advocate and presents a great array of 
facts and examples of successful practice. I think 
he leaves out the failures and some of the difficulties. 

Very extravagant things are claimed for Angora 
goats. It has been claimed that they will shear 
from six to eight pounds of mohair per year, worth 
— well, all sorts of prices from 75 cents to $8.00. 
That was in the olden time. They have been claimed 
to be immune to all sickness, hardy as the common 
goat ; that they will kill dogs and keep disease from 
among horses ; that they would clear land of brush 
and make delicious mutton at the same time; that 
they were very prolific. 

Now the simple truth is that the Angora goat is 
the most delicate, though the most beautiful goat 
known. It is troubled with all the diseases that af- 
flict sheep, and more of them. It is not very pro- 
lific, nor are the kids very easily raised in a cold 
and wet climate. It is not dog-proof, nor will it 



THE ANGORA AND MILKING GOATS 



349 




350 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

serve very well to keep dogs from sheep. It de- 
stroys brush effectually, if it can reach it, but 
should have some grass along with the brush to keep 
it in good order. And it shears a fleece of about 3 
pounds that is worth from 7 to 40 cents per pound. 

While the writer from his study of goats believes 
his characterizations true, yet he believes further 
that despite their delicacy Angoras can be profit- 
ably grown in many states of the Union. Wherever 
there is rough, dry, brushy land and grass, they 
may be kept healthy more readily than sheep, 
since they are in no danger from parasitic in- 
fection while browsing on trees, and that the qual- 
ity of their fleeces may be so greatly increased by 
systematic breeding that the 7-cent fleeces will be- 
come extinct and even the good fleeces will become 
more valuable. 

Let us get at the history of the American An- 
gora goat. The native home of the Angora is in 
Asiatic Turkey, on a high, dry and rather cold 
plateau. It may be that there is some peculiarity 
of the soil and climate of that region or some men- 
tal twist of the breeders there, since there are other 
animals found there that have the long silky hair 
that characterizes the true Angora. Cats from An- 
gora have that quality, and dogs are said sometimes 
to possess it. The ancient history of the Angora is 
unknown. It has doubtless been the companion of 
man for countless ages, and civilizations have existed 
upon the world far longer than we have been 
taught. This region of Angora was in the ancient 



TPIE ANGORA AND MILKING GOATS 351 

days famed for tlie wonderful falnics woven there, 
and the Angora goat furnished the fleece for these 
fabrics. Occasionally war or famine decimated the 
flocks, and at last the changes in industrial life 
hushed the looms of Angora and the industry of 
spinning the fabrics was transferred to England. 
Thereafter mohair became a regular export from 
Angora, and the quality of the product suffered at 
once. What was good enough to use at home be- 
came too good to sell abroad and the Angoras were 
crossed with a baser goat called the Kurd. It is 
thought that there is not now in the world a speci- 
men of the true, ancient Angora. The loss has been 
in the fineness of the hair and the presence of more 
kemp, which is an under hair shorter and damaging 
to true mohair, because it will not take dye. It 
would seem from the studies of Mendel's law that 
it is most unlikely that the true and honorable 
blood of the old Angora is lost, for it is sure to re- 
appear in its purity sooner or later, if it has not 
already, and can be fixed again, if it has not already 
been fixed, by proper matings. 

In our beginning the Sultan of Turkey gave a few 
Angoras to Dr. Jas. B. Davis of South Carolina. 
Dr. Davis called them ''Cashmeres,'' and for some 
years they were called by that name in America, 
though the Cashmere goat is quite distinct and of 
no great value in its present form and has never 
been bred pure in the United States, so far as the 
author knows. These goats throve fairly well, and 
following the custom of the times very great lauda- 



352 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

tion was made of their virtues, among other things 
that they sheared from four to eight pounds, which 
sold for from $6.00 to $8.00 per pound in Scotland. 
This, unfortunately, was an exaggeration of about 
$7.25 per pound, but the goats meekly bore the ob- 
loquy as in the Israelitish days of old, meantime 
going merrily about their true mission, to subdue 
and replenish the earth! 

When Dr. Davis had finished with his goats they 
were sold, and among the purchasers was Col. Eich- 
ard Peters of Georgia. This man proved to be an 
Angora enthusiast and in turn sent specimens to 
Texas, California and other places. 

It is significant that the Angora never became 
prominent anywhere except in Texas, California and 
Oregon until within comparatively recent years. 
There were several reasons for that. The warm, 
dry climates of the two states were peculiarly suited 
to the animals and land was cheap there and range 
limitless. Then there were found in Texas herds 
of common Mexican goats on which the Angoras 
could be crossed. This crossing was done on an 
extensive scale and in a short time there sprung 
into existence great flocks of grade Angora goats, 
larger and stronger than the pure-bred animals, 
l)ut possessing a small amount of inferior hair. 
Further crossing greatly improved the hair, how- 
ever, and it is not meant to suggest that this debas- 
ing blood has brought ruin or irretrievable loss. In 
truth, the added size and strength of the grades 
have been a help, and by the careful selection of 



THE ANGORA AND MILKING GOATS 353 

bucks for a few generations wonders are worked in 
Angora grade fleeces. 

This brings us (without mention of further in- 
teresting importations) down to the date of the re- 
cent exploitation of the Angora. Proved in 1897 
to be unrivalled brush exterminators in Iowa, their 
fame spread, and Angoras have been sent in carload 
lots to most of the states and territories. When they 
have been good goats and given good care they have 
proved profitable. When they have been common 
goats, the result of indifferent grade sires on com- 
mon smooth Mexican goats, they have still proved 
excellent brush exterminators, but have struck their 
owners with dismay when they had them sheared 
and tried to sell the fleeces. 

Within very recent years, however, since the es- 
tablishment of a record and flock book for the An- 
goras; with classes at fairs and new importations 
from Asia and Africa, there is a very great im- 
provement coming over the Angora industry and 
it may be that some day good mohair will be abun- 
dant on the American market. Wlien that time 
comes, curiously enough, it will be in greater de- 
mand than it is, now that it is rather scarce. Mo- 
hair is used in making plush for dress fabrics and 
yarns. It is the most durable of all fabrics, prac- 
tically indestructible by wear. Most of the uphol- 
stery of railway cars in the United States is said to 
be made from mohair. 

What then could a breeder hope to reach in An- 
gora goat breeding? By the use of right sires, for 



354 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

a series of years, by discarding from the flock stead- 
ily tlie worst he ought in time to possess a flock 
shearing from 4 to 6 pounds of mohair, worth about 
45 cents per pound at the present writing. That 
will pay well. A fleece of 2 to 3 pounds worth 20 
cents per pound is discouraging. 

It takes time, however, to breed out the common 
goat from the Angoras. To buy any large number 
of practically pure-bred goats is impossible in Amer- 
ica. The breeder must have patience, persistence 
and the habit of extermination. 

Now what of management *? Newly arrived goats 
from the Southwest are tender and when turned on 
cold eastern pastures may suffer considerably for a 
time. They need a dry shed, open to the south. To 
this they will come whenever it threatens rain. They 
may be fed there some dry forage, clover hay or 
whatever is available. It is not usual to feed them 
grain, and much grain will cause the kids to be born 
with small vitality. The fence restraining them may 
be of woven wire and thus they are easily held in 
bounds. They must not be confined to too small a 
pasture else they will famish. Better let them take 
their time to the brush extermination and make a 
profit from them as you go along. They will feed 
upon the leaves of almost every species of tree and 
brush, if they can reach them. They will not do 
much in the way of girdling trees, though they will 
eat the bark from some varieties of trees. They 
do not much relish hickory. Green briars are dan- 
gerous because they sometimes catch and hold fast 



THE ANGORA AND MILKING GOATS 355 

the little goats till tliey perish. These should be 
mown off with a brush scythe and then the goats 
will keep them down. They do not make a meal of 
any one article of diet but nibble a few leaves from 
one shrub, a few from another, then some weeds, 
some grass, more leaves and so on the day long. 
They will not thrive on brush alone. They will live 
well on grass alone, but thrive better to have brush 
to mix with it. They require water. Laurel will 
poison them if they are given access to it when very 
hungry. 

Angoras make good eating. Their flesh is called 
''venison" or ''mutton," according to the state of 
their respective markets. The Angora does not have 
the overpowering odor of the common male goat. 
They are as dainty as deer in their habits. Offered 
for sale at our great market centers they sell for 
considerably less than sheep, 1 to 2 cents per pound 
less. 

This condition may improve with time and the 
elimination of more of the common goat from their 
blood. 

Angora goats are not heavy milkers and are not 
suitable for use as milking goats. Great excellence 
is seldom attained in two or three diverse lines of 
endeavor. 

The beginner in goat raising in the East should 
fix in his mind a few facts. Angoras are not excep- 
tions to the universal rule in the animal world that 
food is required for sustenance and growth. They 
are able, true, to eat foods that other animals neg- 



356 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

lect, but as a rule brusliwoocl is not very nutritious 
and there ought to be some grass in connection. In 
winter time Angoras deprived of food suffer as 
sheep would. They cannot subsist on coarse 
browse. They need bright straw, corn fodder, a 
very little grain. Then let them browse what they 
will. They absolutely must have abundant exercise 
to keep them in health. They love to take it by 
roaming about and browsing. 

They must not be crowded. The shed should be 
roomy and airy and dry under foot. It is absolute- 
ly essential that they should have an abundance of 
fresh air. They are very dainty about what they 
eat and will not eat any forage that has been 
dropped underfoot. Their racks, therefore, should 
be so made as to hold the forage up. It is useless to 
lift hay or fodder from the floor or ground and put 
it again into the rack; they refuse it. They have 
the sensitive noses of rabbits. 

Do not forget the dryness underfoot. The yard 
must not be muddy, and if it becomes so, slightly 
raised walks of plank or rock should lead from the 
dry shed to the dry pasture outside. There should 
be abundant opportunity of entrance to the shed. 
It is best to leave the entire south side open, else 
some quarrelsome individuals will prevent the oth- 
ers from gaining ingress. 

The period of gestation in the Angora is about 
150 days. A buck will serve from 40 to 50 does. 

The buck should be managed as has been advised 
for sheep, though some breeders practice turning 



THE ANGORA AND MILKING GOATS 357 

in about 5 bucks to the hundred does and leaving 
them, with the result that nearly all the kids come at 
one time. This may be a good practice if the breed- 
er can manage them in that way. 

The kids must not come before warm weather. 
After the leaves start in the spring is the proper 
time. The does should be sufficiently well nour- 
ished to be strong at kidding time, though one must 
not overdo this kindness, else the kids will come 
weak. Abundant exercise for the doe with sufficient 
food will make a successful kidding. 

Angoras must have care and attention at kidding 
time, much more than ewes require. The little kids 
are delicate and cannot endure cold or wet. They 
are not hardy and must not follow their mothers 
out to graze before they are six or eight weeks old. 
Should they attempt to follow they will become 
weary and lie down to rest and become lost. There- 
fore, they are kept in the corral and a board put 
up over which the mother must jump. When the kid 
can also jump out it may follow her. 

A better scheme is the ''bridge." This is an in- 
cline ending abruptly in the air, the high end at 
the corral side. The does jump up on this to go out 
and the weaklings run under where they cannot get 
through. Thus they are removed from danger of 
being stepped upon by their mothers or other does. 

When the kid is born it should be placed with its 
mother in a small pen. Care should be taken not 
to handle it unnecessarily nor to rub it against the 
other kids, else the mother may become confused 



358 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

by the odor, and she depends upon that entirely for 
her knowledge of her offspring. If it is inconven- 
ient to have a pen for each doe, several may be con- 
fined to the one pen, placing their kids apart as far 
as possible. The kids are often ^'staked," that is, 
tied by one leg with a strong cord in which is a 
swivel. The doe will always return to where she 
left the kid to seek for it. It is said that twice a 
day is often enough for the kids to suck. Should 
the doe disown her offspring she will own it again 
if confined with it and the kid assisted to suck for a 
few days. 

Kids must not be exposed to cold or wet. Expe- 
rience shows that they are more delicate than lambs. 
Is not this a striking proof of the antiquity of the 
breed? For how many unnumbered centuries has 
it been under the fostering care of man ! The com- 
mon goat is the hardiest of domestic animals, and 
the most difficult to get profit from. The Angora, 
with its delicately beautiful fleece, has had this rug- 
gedness sacrificed to the beauty and usefulness of 
its covering. As a rule the better bred the Angoras 
are, the nearer pure-bred, the more delicate they are. 
And yet, given right management, they are hardy 
enough. They endure tropic heats and semi-Arctic 
colds, but they must be dry, they must have air and 
exercise and food partly of browse and partly of 
grass. 

We will not here go into the range management 
of Angoras. Anyone wishing to grow them in large 
numbers should make careful study in detail. He 



THE ANGORA AND MILKING GOATS 359 

will find much information in the volumes previous- 
ly mentioned in this chapter. Dry, hilly ranges are 
admirably adapted to Angora goat growing. They 
seem rather more expensive to manage than range 
sheep, especially at kidding time. It is not well to 
put more than 1,000 in a flock. An increase of 75 
per cent is considered good. In small lots increases 
of 100 per cent are not unusual. The better bred 
Angoras are, the fewer the pairs of twins born. 

Angoras suffer sometimes from stomach worms, 
from foot-rot and lice, from two sorts of scab (they 
are exempt from sheep scab), and probably from 
nodular disease. They have a disease of their own 
called ^^takosis," which makes them waste away, 
giving them a tired feeling, accompanied by diar- 
rhea and cough. It was once believed that Angoras 
had no diseases; indeed like sheep in dry hilly re- 
gions they are practically exempt from disease, but 
when brought to damp countries with dense green 
grass their environment is so changed that they 
become infected in the same manner as sheep. The 
treatment for internal parasites is the same as for 
sheep. Good management in suitable locations will 
prevent disease in Angoras. 

Where should Angoras be introduced? Not to 
arable farms. Sheep pay better there. But to hilly 
and brushy regions where it is not desired to en- 
courage the growth of new timber, or where it is 
desired to clear away a part of the brush and re- 
place it with grass. In Virginia, West A^irginia^ 
Pennsylvania, Kentucky and southern Ohio, in Ten- 



360 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

nessee and the Mil regions south of there Angoras 
might exist by thousands with profit and advantage. 

They should in all locations have provision made 
for feeding in winter, some dry corn fodder, oats 
and hay. 

The difficulty in introducing Angoras to the re- 
gion best for them is the character of many of the 
people living there. The careful reader will have 
realized ere this that Angora goat breeding is not 
adapted to a careless, lazy or indifferent man's hab- 
its. More than most animals. Angoras are depend- 
ent upon man for aid in infancy and help at inter- 
vals during life. Angoras are destroyed sometimes 
by dogs, though it is thought that with a number of 
wethers among them they are less subject to attack 
than sheep. The man who wishes to breed goats 
without care or attention from him had better take 
the common ^'Billie goat," which is as energetic a 
brush destroyer as he needs, and does not have to 
be shorn or need attention at kidding time, and can 
usually defend himself from dogs. 

THE MILKING GOAT. 

Doubtless goats have been the companions of man 
for a longer time than cows and have befriended 
him for most of this time by sharing their milk 
with him. Therefore the milking habit has been 
well fixed in certain types of goats. 

It is doubtless true that goats make better use of 
their food than cows, and turn more of it into milk. 
Therefore from the standpoint of economy goats 



THE ANGORA AND MILKING GOATS 361 

make milk better and cheaper than cows. Further- 
more, goats are almost never attacked with tuber- 
culosis and their milk is said to have tonic properties 
of especial value to children. Then there is the fact 
that a goat is very much smaller than a cow, is 
easily sheltered, is tractable, requires but one-eighth 
as much food, and is in many ways better adapted 
to village or suburban life. 

Taking these facts into consideration, it is sur- 
prising that we have not had a larger development 
of the milch goat in America. There are two prin- 
cipal reasons : the incapacity of the average Ameri- 
can for independence and self-help, and his false 
pride that makes him fear ridicule if he adopts a 
practice that is followed by his poorer neighbors. 
Near many cities there are colonies of European 
emigrants who make more or less use of the goat 
as a milk-giving animal. Many a well-to-do subur- 
banite could follow this example with profit and 
gain great comfort from the assurance of a supply 
of pure milk, produced imder his own eye. 

The writer has often seen cottagers in the old 
world employ goats for this purpose of milkgiving. 
Very often they would be tethered near the dwelling 
and children would bring them forage, clippings 
from the lawn, refuse from the table and surplus 
vegetables from the garden. Children would often 
do the milking also, and the friendship between the 
gentle goat and the appreciative children was very 
real. 

The amount of milk given by a well-bred goat is 



362 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

extraordinary. From three to five quarts a day 
are not uncommon in Europe and the period of lac- 
tation is long. vSome German authorities assert that 
the goat often yields ten times the weight of its body 
annually, and that exceptional animals yield in milk 
as much as eighteen times their weight. 

It is a good goat of any breed thaf will yield two 
quarts per day for seven or eight months in the 
year. 

The flavor of goats' milk is good, if the goats 
have good food. If they must subsist upon bitter 
and aromatic brush, or upon onions and refuse from 
the garden, there is danger of the flavors reacting 
on the milk. Milch goats when in use should be as 
carefully fed as dairy cows, given good wholesome 
sweet hay or clovers, alfalfa, or dried lawn clip- 
pings. They should have their ration of bran and 
oats, with a trifle of oilmeal if the best is sought. 
At times when they are not in milk they may be 
permitted to feast upon all sorts of brush and weeds 
that taste more palatable to them than to us. 

As to the amount of feed required it is said that 
eight goats require about the same amount of food 
as one cow. 

Milch goats need a comfortable, clean, dry house, 
well ventilated, for their winter 's home. They need 
a good fence since they will climb and creep out 
whenever they have opportunity. They are quite 
often tied in stalls as cows are tied, though it would 
seem better to give them clean, roomy pens. They 
should be milked regularly three times a day by 



THE ANGORA AND MILKING GOATS 363 

the same person. They should be taken to a clean, 
odorless place to he milked. Previous to milking the 
udder and teats should be wiped quite clean. No tu- 
berculous person should milk either goats or cows. 

Milch goats are very prolific, having many pairs 
of twins and triplets. A Nubian goat, one of the 
best milking kinds, is said to have dropped 11 kids 
in one year. The period of gestation is about 155 
days. 

Just how to manage the kids when their mother's 
milk is needed for human consumption the writer 
does not see. Probably to wean them after the age 
of ten days, feeding them with the bottle a portion 
of their mother's milk and by substituting other 
foods, as bran with a little oilmeal in it, oats and 
good hsij, or grass in summer would solve that 
problem. 

It must be confessed that the interest in milch 
goats in America is mostly speculative at present, 
since there are so few here and the source of sup- 
ply being Germany, Switzerland, Prance, and per- 
haps Malta or Italy, where because animal diseases 
prevail our customs regulations forbid the impor- 
tation of goats or other cud-chewing animals. There 
is hope that some way may be opened to the impor- 
tation of these animals and that an industry may 
spring up here. The best adapted to our climate 
would seem to be the goats of Switzerland and Ger- 
many, the Toggenburger and Saanen breeds being 
especially desirable. 

The Nubian goat is the greatest milker of them 



364 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 

all, as well as the largest in size, but is not Lardy 
in the colder parts of our country. Crosses of the 
Nubian on other goats are hardier and good milk- 
ers. It is remarkable that Africa should have given 
us this animal, the sole representative of its breed- 
ing that has come to us if we except the fat-tailed 
sheep of Tunis. 

Doubtless these Nubian goats gave milk in the 
days of Joseph and Pharaoh. 







SHEPHERD'S GESTATION TABLE. 






Date of 


Due to 


Date of 


Due to 


Date of 


Due to 


Date of 


Due to 


Service. 


Lamb. 


Service. 


Lamb. 


Service. 


Lamb. 


Service. 


Lamb. 


May I . . . 


.Sept. 25 


July 1... 


.Nov. 25 


Sept.l.. 


..Jan. 26 


Nov. \ . . 


March 28 


2 


26 


2 


26 


2 


27 


2 


29 


3 


27 


3 


27 


3 


28 


3 


30 


4 


28 


4 


28 


4 


29 


4 


31 


5 


29 


5 


29 


5 


30 


5 


...April 1 


6 


30 


6 


30 


6 


31 


6 


2 


7 


.. ..Oct. 1 

2 


7 

8 


...Dec. 1 

2 


i'.'.'.'.'. 


. . . Feb. 1 

2 




3 


8 


8 


4 


9 


3 


9 


3 


9 


3 


9 


5 


10 


4 


10 


4 


10 


4 


10 


6 


11 


5 


11 


5 


11 


5 


11 


7 


12 


6 


12 


6 


12 


6 


12 


8 


13 


7 


13 


7 


13 


7 


13 


9 


14 


8 


14 


8 


14 


8 


14 


10 


15 


9 


15 


9 


15 


9 


15 


11 


16 


13 


13 


10 


16 


13 


16 


12 


17 


11 


17 


11 


17 


11 


17 


13 


18 


12 


18 


12 


18 


12 


18 


14 


19 


13 


19 


13 


19 


13 


19 


15 


20 


14 


20 


14 


20 


14 


20 


16 


21 


15 


21 


15 


21 


15 


21 


17 


22 


IG 


22 


16 


?2 


18 


22 


18 


23 


17 


23 


17 


23 


17 


23 


19 


24 


18 


24 


18 


24 


13 


24 


20 


25 


19 


25 


13 


25 


13 


25 


21 


26 


20 


26...... 


20 


26 


23 


26 


22 


27 


21 


27 


21 


27 


21 


27 


23 


28 


22 


28 


22 


28 


22 


28 


24 


29 


23 


29 


?3 


29 


23 


29 


25 


30 


24 


30 


21 


30 


24 


30 


26 


31 


25 


31 


25 


Oct. 1. 


25 


Dec. 1... 


..27 


June 1 . . . 


2-3 


^"ff. 1... 


23 


2 


26 


2 


.........28 


2 


27 


2 


27 


3 


27 


3 


29 


3 


23 


3 


23 


4 


28 


4 


30 


4 


29 


4 


23 


5 


.March 1 


5 


...May 1 


5 


30 


5 


30 


6 


2 


6 


2 


6 


31 


6 


31 


7 


3 


7 


3 


7 


...Nov. 1 


7 


. . . Jan. 1 


8 


4 


8 


4 


8 


2 


8 


2 


9 


5 


9 


5 


9 


3 


9 


3 


10 


6 


13 


6 


10 


4 


10 


4 


11 


7 


11 


7 


11 


5 


11 


5 


12 


8 


12 


8 


12 


6 


12 


6 


13 


9 


13 


9 


13 


7 


13 


7 


14 


10 


14 


10 


14 


8 


14 


8 


15 


11 


15 


11 


15 


9 


15 


9 


16 


........12 


13 


12 


16 


rj 


16 


10 


17 


13 


17 


13 


17 


li 


17 


11 


18 


14 


13 


14 


18 


12 


18 


12 


19 


15 


13 


15 


19 


13 


19 


13 


20 


16 


20 


16 


20 


14 


20 


14 


21 


17 


21 


17 


21 


15 


21 


15 


22 


18 


22 


18 


22 


IG 


22 


........16 


23 


13 


23 


19 


23 


17 


23 


17 


24 


20 


24 


20 


24 


18 


24 


18 


25 


21 


25 


21 


25 


13 


25 


19 


26 


22 


26 


22 


26 


20 


26 


20 


27 


23 


27 


23 


27 


21 


27 


21 


28 


21 


28 


24 


28 


22 


28 


22 


29 


25 


29 


25 


29 


23 


29 


23 


30 


20 


30 


26 


30 


24 


30 

31 


24 

25 


31 


-^ 


31 


27 



INDEX. 



Age, advanced of Merinos, 41. 
Alfalfa and oats, 180. 
Alfalfa hay for ewes, 120. 
Angora goats, 347. 
Argentina, Lincoln blood in, 58. 

Bakewell, Robt., 56. 

Barn for lambs, 279. 

Barns, ventilation of, 123. 

Beet pulp, 295. 

Binder twine injures wool, 204. 

Black-faces, 66. 

Blacktops, 33. 

Bleeding from docking, 160. 

Bloat, remedies for, 184. 

Bloating, 182. 

Bluegrass for ewes, 120. 

Bluestone for stomach worms, 340. 

Bone, developing, 142. 

Bonemeal for feeding, 141. 

Bran for ewes after lambing, 132. 

Bran, wheat, for ewes, 120. 

Breeding, cross, 76. 

Breeding season on the range, 2.32. 

Breeds and parasites, 22. 

Breeds, the mutton compared, 54. 

Brine sprinkled on hay, 156. 

Brome grass, 176, 182. 

Burnett, Prof. E. A., quoted, 273. 

Cabbages, 189. 

California, number of sheep in, 15. 

Canadian peas for lamb feeding, 262. 

Castrating old rams, 160. 

Castration of lambs, 161. 

Cattle and sheep, 244. 

Cheviots, 64. 

Chicago, buying ewes in, 255. 

Clover and alfalfa pasture, 181. 

Clover for ewes, 120. 

Coaltar dip. 106. 

Cofeey, Prof. W. C, on silage. 134. 

Colorado, alfalfa-fed lambs in, 268. 

number of sheep in, 15. 

pea-feeding in, 261. 
Commission men aid in securing feed- 
ers, 259. 
Corn — 

amount of for 100 lambs, 289. 

cracked, 146. 

feeding on grass, 154. 

for lamb fattening, 287. 

shelling by lambs, 148. 

shock for sheep, 306. 
Cornbelt, sheep-farms in, 176. 
Cornbelt, sheep feeding in the, 276. 
Corrals and coyotes. 230. 
Cost of lamb mutton, 286. 
Cotswolds, 57. 
Cowpeas, 147. 
Coyotes, 230, 233. 
Crating dressed lamb, 150. 
Creeps, 139, 143, 162. 
Creosote for stomach w'orms, 339. 
Crook, the shepherd's, 124. 



Cross-breeding, 23, 76, 84. 
Davis, Dr. J. B., 351. 
Delacour's, M., flock, 79. 
Dip, heating for use, 106. 
Dip,, kinds of, 108. 
Dipping — 

at markets, 247. 

importance of, 102. 

necessity for. 246. 

regular urged, 110. 

summary of, 110. 

vat. the, 105. 
Diseases, 311. 
Disease due to overuse of soil or cor 

ners, 158. 
Dishley Merinos, 79. 
Disinfectant in docking, 160. 
Docking, 159. 

Doors for sheep barns, 123, 278. 
Dorsets, 60. 

Dorset blood for crossing, 85. 
Dorsetshire, shepherds in, 13. 
Downs, the, in England. 44. 
Dressing lambs for market, 148. 

Ear tags for marking, 209. 
Ewe, countenance of, 123. 
Ewe, delivery by the, 125. 
Ewes — 

age of for discarding, 256. 

assort for mating, 113. 

clip wool from udders of, 124. 

dipping pregnant. 110. 

fall treatment of, 112. 

feeding after lambing, 131. 

feeding pregnant, 120. 

old for feeding, 254. 

pregnant, care of. 117. 

rams running with, 199. 

selecting, 99. 

separating lambs from, 148. 

shearing early, 121. 

short-legged, 101. 

sore teats of, 138. 

when to breed, 114. 

young disown Iambs, 129. 
Exercising sheep, 187. 

Fattening lambs on grass, 154. 
Feed for a breeding flock, 22. 
Feed for milk production, 132. 
Feed-racks, 122. 281. 
Feeders, selection of, 248. 
Feeding — 

ewes, 22. 

for market, 142. 

mill screenings, 275. 

peas in Colorado, 261, 

sheep in the cornbelt, 277. 

western lambs, 244. 
Feet, care of the, 191. 
Fine-wool breeds, the, 27. 
Fleece, water in a, 121. 
Fleeces, some heavy, 30. 



INDEX. 



367 



Flies, pine tar repels, 186. 

Flock- 
getting home with the, 101. 
management of the, 171. 
shift the, 168. 
size of the, 26. 

Flocks, effect of on agriculture, 17. 

Forage, green for sheep, 155. 

Foot-rot, 192. 

Foot-scald, 192. 

France, flocks in, 13, 79. 

Gains on grass, 154. 

Garget, 319. 

Gasoline for stomach worms, 341. 

Goat, the milch, 360. 

Goats, Angora, 347. 

Grain for pregnant ewes, 120. 

Grass, feeding corn on, 154. 

Grass, growing lambs on, 158. 

Grass, infected, 158. 

Grass, waiting for in West, 224. 

Grub in head, 323. 

Hampshires, 51. 

Hay, brine sprinkled over, 156. 
Hays for feeding, 282. 
Health and pink skin, 100. 
Herder, the maligned, 238. 
Herders in the West, 223. 
Hilly lands, Dorsets for, 63. 
Hurdles used in England, 139. 
Hurdling against flock evils, 158. 

Idaho, number of sheep in, 15. 
Illinois, number of sheep in, 15. 
Inbreeding, 96. 

Iowa, number of sheep in, 15. 
India ink for tattooing, 211. 
Indiana, number of sheep in, 15. 
Jones, C. C, quoted, 340. 
Kentucky, number of sheep in, 15. 
Kids, care of, 358. 
Lambing tent, the, 196. 
Lambing time, care at, 125. 
Lambs — 

buying to feed, 252. 

buying on the range, 259. 

castration of, 161. 

causes of death in, 296. 

chilled, 128. 

Colorado alfalfa-fed, 268. 

cost of growing, 140. 

cow's milk for, 128. 

cross-breeding for, 80. 

dressing for market, 148. 

dressed fat winter, 150. 

docking, 159. 

ewe, 122. 

fall, 198. 

feeding for market, 139, 142. 

foretelling advent of, 125. 

growing on grass alone, 158. 

helping to first meal, 126. 

high-quality, 41. 

keeping in health, 188. 

making ewes own their, 130. 

marketing spring, 158. 

Mexican type of, 253. 

not owned by ewes, 129. 

oilmeal for, 141. 

prices for dressed, 148. 



Lambs — 

pure water for, 147. 

range, not recognized by ewes, 236. 

rations for, 140. 

shade for, 155. 

sore eyes among, 137. 

sore-mouthed, 138. 

treatment of late-born, 151. 

trimming range, 234. 

weaning, 148, 161. 

when six weeks old, 148. 

when to dock, 159. 
Leases of range, 227. 
Leicesters, 56. 

Lime and sulphur dip, 108. 
Lincolns, 58. 
Long-wools, the, 56. 
Lungworms in grass, 158. 

Manure, waste of, 156. 

Market, feeding for, 142. 

Marking, methods of, 209-212. 

Mating, 113. 

Merino blood, value of, 23, 28, 31. 

Merinos — 

American, 31. 

Delaine, 33. 

Dishley, 79. 

flocks of, 24. 

handling, 40. 
Mexican — 

lambs as feeders, 222. 

native sheep, 215. 

methods of management, 216. 

sheep, character of, 216. 
Michigan, lamb feeding in, 300. 
Michigan, number of sheep in, 15. 
Middlings, wheat, 146. 
Miller, H. P., quoted, 149. 
Milk, cow's, for lambs, 128. 
Milk-flow, feed for, 132. 
Milk-flow of ewes, 119. 
Missouri, number of sheep in, 15. 
Montana, number of sheep in, 15. 
Mountain breeds, the, 64. 
Mountain ranges, sheep on, 225. 
Mutton — 

amount of made on peas, 266. 

breeds, the, 43. 

cost of making lamb, 286. 

making in May and June, 152. 

prejudice against, 16. 

Nevada, number of sheep in, 15. 

New Mexico, flock husbandry in, 218. 

New Mexico, old days in, 218. 

New Mexico, number of sheep in, 15. 

New York, number of sheep in, 15. 

New Zealand, quality of flocks in, 243. 

Nodular disease, 177, .324. 

North Dakota, number of sheep in. 15. 

Nubian goats, 363. 

Oats and alfalfa. 180. 

Oats, feeding, 146. 

Ohio, number of sheep in, 15. 

Ohio, Rambouillets in, 38. 

Oilmeal for lambs, 141. 

Orchard grass, 181. 

Oregon, number of sheep in, 15. 

Oxfords, 53. 

Packers and price of mutton, 17. 
Panels, using, 124. 



368 



INDEX. 



Parasitic infection of ranges, 228. 
Parasites, internal, 164. 
Parasites and breeds, 22. 
Pasturing alfalfa, 186. 
Pastures and stomach worms, 174. 
Pastures, change, 168. 
Pastures, use of sown, 178. 
Pasture, fencing off for ewes, 154. 
Pea feeding in Colorado, 261. 
Peas— 

field, 147. 

for lambs, 299. 

lamb mutton made on, 266. 
Pennsylvania, number of sheep in, 15. 
Persian sheep, 69. 
Peters, Col. Richard, 352. 
Pinchers for docking, 159. 
Pine tar and flies, 186. 
Plains, the Northern, 228. 
Protein, sources of, 147. 
Pulp, beet, feeding, 295. 
Pumpkins, 189. 
Pumpkin seeds as a vermifuge, 112. 

Racks, forms of, 122. ?-.^ O 
Rain in fleeces, 121. 
Rambouillets, 37. 
Ram — - 

management of the, 115. 

selection of a, 89. 

when to use the, 114. 
Rams — 

number of ewes for, 90, 116. 

old, castrating, 160. 

range, management of, 230. 

running with ewes, 199. 

sources of, 231. 
Range — 

breeding season, 232. 

buying lambs on the, 259. 

dipping, 237. 

diseases on the, 221. 

flocks, improving, 243. 

methods of management, 218-221. 

methods of trimming, 234. 

shearing on the, 236. 

sheep Industry, the, 241-244. 
Ranges, cross-breeding on, 83. 
Ranges, division of the, 226. 
Rape, the use of, 187. 
Ration for milk production, 132. 
Restocking with sheep, 88. 
Roots for ewes, 135. 
Ross, John, of Mickel Tarrell, 68. 
Roving instinct of sheep, 224. 
Rye as a feed, 146. 
Rye for pasture, 178. 

Salt essential, 155. 

Salt in hay, 283. 

San Luis Valley lamb feeding, 261, 

263. 
Scab on the range, 221. 
Scab, how to detect, 103. 
Scotch Black-faced, 66. 
Screenings, feeding, 275. 
Self-feeders. 295. 
Shade for lambs, 155. 
Shearing machines, 205. 
Shearing, methods of, 202. 
Shearing on the range, 2.36. 
Shearing-time, 201. 



Sheds, movable, 156. 
Sheep — 

farming in America, 14» 

English ideals of, 43. 

feeding thin, 250. 

number of in states 15. 

restocking with, 88. 

washing, 200. 
Shelter, temporary, 1".8. 
Shepherds, British, 3S. 
Shepherds of old, 19. ( 

Shepherd, the western, 233. 
Shropshires, 48. 

Silage, experience wi.i, 133, 134, 290. 
Silo, 292. 

Skin, look well to tli-^ TOO. 
Skinner, Prof. J. H., on silage, 134. 
Smith, Prof. W. W.. un silage, 134. 
Sore mouth in lambs, 138. 
Southdowns, 44. 
Soybeans, 147. 

Sterility and inbreedir,f, 97. 
Stomach worms, 164, :70, 330, .338. 
Suffolks, 55. 

Sussex, management in. *6. 
Swedes for sheep in Eds land, 135. 

Tails, cutting off, 159. 

Tapeworm, 112. .325. 

Tattoo marks. 210. 

Teats, sore, 138. 

Tents, lambing, 196. 

Texas, number of sheep in, 15. 

Tick, dipping for the, 102, 246. 

Trailing sheep. 223. 

Trimming feet, 192. 

Trochar, using for bloat, 185. 

Troughs for corn on grass, 154. 

Trough for treating foot disease, 193. 

Troughs, V-shaped, 120. 

Tunis sheep, 69. 

Turnips, 135. 

Type- 
fixing, 94. 
keeping a, 90. 
what is? 90. 

Utah, number of sheep in, 15. 

Ventilation of sheep barns, 123. 
Vetch, hairy, 147. 
Vigor necessary in flock, 99. 
Vitality from fresh blood, 98. 
Von Homeyer Rambouillets, 36. 

Wandering range flocks, 222. 

Washing sheep, 200. 

Washington, number of sheep in, 15. 

Water, amount of in a fleece, 121. 

Water, pure for lambs, 147. 

Weaning, 161. 

Wethers, feeding mature, -304. 

Windbreaks in Colorado. 271. 

Wisconsin, number of sh-^ep i % 15. 

Woodland Farm, silage on, 134. 

Wool — 

cost of producing, 21 25. 

important in West, 7c 

Merino, 29. 

tariffs, 25. 

washing, 200. 
Worms, lung in grass. 158. 
Wyoming, number of sheep 'j, 15. 



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OCT 88 

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